Health care providers in Niagara: Physicians are one important professional group involved in primary health care. It is important to have enough physicians, specialists and health care providers in Niagara to provide care. Access to a primary health care provider has long been associated with overall decreased medical costs and better patient outcomes. According to Ontario Physician Human Resources Data Centre, there were 582 physicians across Niagara in 2009 (317 general physicians and 265 specialists). The number of physicians in Niagara remains below those needed for the population. The Ministry of Health, in partnership with McMaster’s Medical School have initiated a training program for MDs and the first 19 physicians graduated in 2010. Source: Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.
Figure 7.15 Comparison of the number of Physician/Specialists per CMA, 2009 (excludes West Niagara)
|Niagara Regional Area Health Unit||Ontario||Canada|
|General/family physicians (per 100,000 population)||66||86||101|
|Specialist physicians (per 100,000 population)||56||92||95|
|Contact Rate with a medical doctor in the last 12 months (percent)||80%||82.9%||80.5%|
In 2009, Canada had 2.4 physicians per 1,000 population, well below the OECD average of 3.1. Over the past five years, the number of doctors per capita in Canada has increased from 2.1 per 1,000 in 2004 to 2.4 in 2009.
Nurses: There were 9.4 nurses per 1,000 in Canada in 2009, slightly more than the average of 8.4 in OECD countries. (OECD). Source: Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant LHIN Community Profile, 2006
Nurse Practitioners … There are approximately 40 Nurse Practitioners providing care in Niagara (1,124 inOntario in 2009, compared to 590 in 2005).