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SPRING 2008 |
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C
M A N E W S
CMA “More docs”
campaign builds momentum
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CMA Graphic |
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Physicians made a “House”
call on Parliament Hill on March 4 to press for action to address
Canada’s physician shortage. The annual CMA Lobby Day focused on the
health workforce issue as part of the CMA’s “More Doctors. More Care.”
campaign.
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By CMA Staff |
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Physicians made a “House” call on
Parliament Hill on March 4 to press for action to address Canada’s
physician shortage.
The annual CMA Lobby Day — where
physicians meet with their member of Parliament (MP) — focused on the
health workforce issue as part of the CMA’s “More Doctors. More Care.”
campaign.
“The CMA has been worried for some time
about the growing physician shortage and the unwillingness of
governments to solve the problem,” said CMA President Dr. Brian Day.
“Our message to governments is simple: Canada needs more doctors now.
There are simply not enough of us to keep providing the quality health
care that Canadians expect and deserve.”
In the meetings with Parliamentarians,
physicians — including Dr. Michael Jong of Happy Valley-Goose Bay —
called on the federal government to work with its provincial/territorial
counterparts to make Canada self-sufficient in producing new health care
workers. The CMA is also calling for a $1-billion fund to increase
training resources and capacity, and to repatriate health professionals
who have left Canada. The final goal is more investment in innovation
and information technology to support development of electronic health
records.
The Lobby Day meetings were just one
component of the CMA’s ongoing and unprecedented national campaign to
spur action on the country’s physician shortage. The “More Doctors, More
Care” campaign kicked off in January with ads in the Globe and Mail,
National Post and La Presse and includes transit
advertising in Ottawa. The ads urge Canadians to visit
moredoctors.ca
and fill in an electronic postcard calling for action by Prime Minister
Stephen Harper.
Response has been excellent, with one
quarter of everyone visiting the site clicking through to complete the
electronic postcard. This response rate far exceeds the industry
standard of about a 10% participation rate.
The CMA is also receiving about 1,000
printed postcards a day from Canadians responding to the message.
“When Canadians visit
moredoctors.ca
to find out what they can do, they are asked to contact their MP and
send an electronic postcard to the Prime Minister,” said Dr. Day. “For
the physician shortage to become a political issue in the next federal
campaign, we need Canadians to take action.”
The “More Doctors. More Care.” campaign
will run into April and physicians looking to get involved or who would
like more information should contact
grassroots@cma.ca.
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