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+ NEWS 123 s & > & 2 = & $ g z Tr g ONE IN FIVE 2 ONTARIANS COULD BE WITHOUT A 2 DOCTOR BY 2025 Ona daily basis, Dr. Me- i Kumanan says some- one will ask her if she can take on a family member, friend or neighbour. "We're hearings stories. of patients wh be looking for months, if nat years, to find a family phy- sician within the region,” Kuma a ambridee, based family r and current resident “Of the Ontario College of Family Physicians, told the Chron- icle recently. The college is calling for urgent action with new da- ta showing at least 64,900 people are without a family doctor in Waterloo Region, compared with 58,100 in 2020. "I think all of us who practice medicine find it very, very hard to have to say no, ‘especially when it's someone you know or someone who's got medical issues where they require ongoing care, because tl is what we do," Kumanan said. "We provide care to patients and their fami- lies. The college says the lat- est data reflects the crisisis being felt across the prov- ince, with approximately 2.2 million Ontarians with- out a family doctor —a sig- nificant rise from the pre- viously reported 1.8 million in 2020. Researchers believe these stats are underesti- CALL FOR ‘URGENT ACTION’ AS NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITHOUT A FAMILY DOCTOR INCREASES mated because the data doesn't include babies born or people who moved to the area after 2019. Regardless, a lot of peo- ple don't have access to ing, chronic disease manage- ment, which leads to poor- er outcomes and _fuigher costs, Kumanan “What's worrisome, when we look at the data of people who don't have fam- ily physicians, these are ba tients who are often amo! the patients who ‘require nit Within region's pa- tient population of 533,818, more than 11,000 without a doctor live in racialized communities, 7,750 suffer from mental health issues; nearly 3,250 live with diabe- tes. The hans says a multi- pronged aj i quired to fast track for- eign-trained doc i crease family medicine recency spots and add re team mem- bers who can support a broad range of patient needs. Kimberly Moran, CEO of the college, province's a nouncement to establish 18 w healt ms is a ste ever there won't be enough new doctors to cover all pa- tients who lose their doctor to retirement in future rears, It's projected that more than three million Ontari- ans or one in five people could be without a family doctor by 2025 when the See - page 5 OCFP photo Dr. Mekalai Kumanan, a family doctor in Cambridge and president of the Ontario College of Family Physicians. waterloochronicle.ca 430 Highland RW Nite 519-749-8473 480 apie Rd. F, ON ‘am Call for an appointment 519-744-3020 3yr tyr 5yr 5.45 5.40 5.32 4.85 4.53 4.50 Cashable GIC after 30 days 4.25% min 5k Rates subject to change — Minimums may be required. GIC RSP Why Do GIC’s Anywhere Else? OUR rates are better than Mr. Big Bank for over 40 years? Same Guarantee - Same NO cost! Better service - knowledgeable, attentive staff & over 100 years of combined experience. 729 Belmont Ave. W., Kitchener, ON Optimize Wealth Management