(July 6, 2024) By: Isha Bhargava, CBC News<\/p>\n
A private\u00a0pediatric clinic run by nurse practitioners in London, Ont.,\u00a0is\u00a0calling on the province to\u00a0fund their services, which they say is reducing\u00a0wait times and unnecessary emergency department visits for patients\u00a0without family doctors.<\/p>\n
Healthy Kids Urgent Clinic operates a\u00a0fee-for-service model charging between $65 to $85 for a visit. The clinic’s founder\u00a0says he’d rather be allowed to bill the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) than charge families.<\/p>\n
“There’s a need for access to primary care and people\u00a0are struggling to access those in a timely fashion, so clinics like ours are trying to provide solutions to people,”\u00a0said\u00a0Kevin Zizzo, who runs the clinic at 350 Oxford Street West.<\/p>\n
In Ontario,\u00a0nurse practitioners are authorized to prescribe medications, complete a patient’s comprehensive health history, order lab tests and some diagnostic imaging tests.\u00a0But unlike physicians, they cannot bill OHIP\u00a0directly.<\/p>\n
Some nurse practitioners work in salaried positions at a limited number of publicly-funded family health teams, and nurse practitioner-led clinics.<\/p>\n
Zizzo, who started his clinic in 2023 and treats children from birth to 17, believes health care is a basic human right, but with limited opportunities in publicly-funded teams, he says he’s forced to charge fees.<\/p>\n
“Paying for health care is a controversial topic and I\u00a0don’t think any Canadian wants to or should have to pay for health care with a publicly funded system. I think people are frustrated with the current health-care system and the lack of resources that are available to them,” Zizzo said.<\/p>\n
Canada Health Act interpretation coming<\/strong><\/p>\n The Ontario Medical Association said in May that\u00a02.3 million Ontarians don’t have a family doctor.<\/p>\n The federal government is preparing to issue a\u00a0new interpretation letter of the Canada Health Act (CHA)\u00a0in the coming weeks. A spokesperson\u00a0could not provide specifics, but told CBC News the revision would continue to strengthen universal healthcare so patients don’t have to pay out of pocket.<\/p>\n The CHA doesn’t\u00a0clarify what services are or aren’t allowed to be delivered by non-physicians, including nurse practitioners.\u00a0Even if it did, Ottawa\u00a0couldn’t force the provinces to fund them.<\/p>\n In April, Ontario’s Health Minister Sylvia Jones wrote a letter to her federal counterpart, Mark Holland, asking him to prohibit non-physicians from charging for publicly funded services.<\/p>\n “Our government has been clear, we will continue to expand access to primary care until every Ontarian who wants access to a provider, has it and our budget introduced just a few months ago, investing an additional $546 million to expand interprofessional primary care teams shows we are taking action,” spokesperson Hannah Jensen said in an email.<\/p>\n There are 25 nurse practitioner-led clinics across Ontario that are funded by the Ministry of Health. While they can prescribe medications, complete a patient’s comprehensive health history, order lab tests and some diagnostic imaging tests they cannot bill the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).<\/p>\n Critics who oppose any privately funded health care model say they understand Zizzo’s clinic is providing a needed service, and hopes the provincial government could fund nurse practitioners, if given the chance.<\/p>\n “Throwing up any kind of financial barrier\u00a0is not going to relieve wait times for people. It\u00a0was never meant to be\u00a0fee-for-service to get access,” said Peter Bergmanis of the\u00a0Ontario Health Coalition’s London chapter.\u00a0“If this is a grey area, then each province is endowed with the power to be inclusive and [Ontario] can include this.”<\/p>\n The association representing nurse practitioners in Ontario hopes the province will see how these health care professionals can help alleviate pressure on a system struggling to meet pediatric and adult medical needs.<\/p>\n “It makes sense for nurse practitioners to be integrated into the publicly funded system that allows them to serve needs whether that’s primary or specialty care,” Michelle Acorn, CEO of the Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario, said.<\/p>\n “They improve public access to high quality care at cost savings to our system. The evidence shows improved health care access, effective patient outcomes, reduced emergency visits, and high client satisfaction.”<\/p>\n Acorn said her team is working closely with the province to lobby for changes.<\/p>\n