Health committee  The challenge is that we have different systems that are not talking to each other as we speak right now. The solutions, I think, will need to be adapted to regions and locales to be effective. I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all solution here. I'm trying to think here of m

Health committee  That is one way the fund could be used. In Quebec, I believe about 70% of family doctors can belong to a family medicine group. You might know the figures better than I do. From what I have heard, it is a promising model, but there is still room for improvement. The fund would m

Health committee  That is actually what we are trying to promote. Perhaps you are thinking of a different model. I do not understand your question.

Health committee  We think it is important to have funds earmarked for the type of reforms and improvements that are needed. That does not preclude allocating funds more broadly, but at this time we think it is important to allocate funding for the type of improvements we are suggesting.

Health committee  I'd simply add perhaps that it takes time and energy to work effectively as a team. I have experienced the same thing you've described. You see a patient who has been seen by several different people before they get to you, and that's not efficient. Energy needs to be spent on su

Health committee  The only thing I will say is that I think all of us here today realize that we are at a point of inflection with regard to how primary care and community-based care are functioning. I think we all realize this now more than ever. I would suggest that we are at an important crossr

Health committee  I think that we see the primary care integration fund as a fund that would be put in place for a temporary period of time to enable scaling up of some models of care that already show promise. Examples of this would be groupe de médecine de famille au Québec, Ontario health teams

Health committee  You and I have discussed this already: make a targeted fund available with the specific purpose of doing some of the things I've just finished talking about, to which the provinces could apply. Hopefully, they'd all be interested in accessing the fund to bring about that scaling-

Health committee  I think the bottleneck, if there is a bottleneck, is in the capacity to assess a physician who has come from another country—working with that physician to make sure they are competent to perform in a Canadian environment. That capacity is one of the limiting factors.

Health committee  I just want to be sure I understand the question. Are you asking me which professionals or providers besides physicians would benefit from a national licensure enablement?

Health committee  I would probably suggest nursing, pharmacy—

Health committee  I think the list could actually be quite long of professions that would lend themselves well to national licensure, which would therefore enable and facilitate those who provide care—and that's pharmacists, nurses, physicians—in some rural and remote communities to get a break an

Health committee  We need more family doctors. We need family doctors not only to look after the 4.6 million who do not have one. We need more family doctors in this country. I think I'll ask Dr. Bouchard to respond to the rest of your question, because he is on the ground. He is providing care

Health committee  Brady, did you want to speak to this?

Health committee  Those are the data that we have. Yes.