The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is optimistic about the future of health care in Canada following the country’s premiers meeting this week. It’s clear that all premiers recognize the gravity of the situation, and that stabilizing and reforming health care is critical. We were pleased to observe a collaborative and constructive tone from all provinces and territories as they focused their discussions on some of our health systems’ biggest challenges.
The premiers’ joint focus on areas such as supporting a strong health workforce, enabling mobility of health workers, and improving access to primary care and mental health resources are important steps that can spark a better future.
The cracks in Canada’s health systems run deep and are too severe for any single jurisdiction to manage in isolation. We need our federal, provincial and territorial leaders to maintain this collaborative effort to tackle shared challenges. By working together, measuring progress in key areas and investing based on that progress, we can build the health systems that patients and providers deserve.
We urge our leaders to continue to engage the health workforce and patients to ensure that we walk this road together toward more equitable, reliable health systems with accountability and measurement targets in place.
Dr. Alika Lafontaine
CMA President