The gap between PICKERING POPULATION GROWTH and AVAILABLE DOCTORS
I recently attended Lakeridge Health’s All-Candidates Durham Region Health Update, and one issue kept coming back to me: growth. Durham is one of the fastest-growing regions in Canada, and Pickering’s population is expected to more than double in the years ahead.
That growth will place even more pressure on family doctors, emergency departments, hospital beds, rehabilitation and mental health services.
Two initiatives really stood out.
The first is the planned post-acute care and rehabilitation facility in Pickering, which would help free up hospital beds for patients who need acute care.
The second is the Queen’s-Lakeridge Health family medicine program, which is training future family doctors right here in Durham.
The idea is simple: if we educate doctors here, train them here and connect them to the community, we have a better chance of keeping them here. Our healthcare capacity needs to grow alongside our population. We cannot build communities first and spend years trying to catch up with the services residents need.
Read the full article here: https://www.samsnyders.ca/platform#LakeridgeHealth
