Mr. Chair, members of the committee, my fellow presenters, thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you today.
I am joined by my colleague Elaine Watson, who is the chief human resources officer at Covenant Health in Alberta, one of Canada's largest Catholic health care providers. Ms. Watson is also the co-chair of HealthCareCAN's health human resources advisory committee, and will be available to answer many of the questions that you will have.
As a national organization representing hospitals, health research institutes and health care organizations, what we repeatedly hear from health leaders is that human resources are the number one challenge facing us and that it must be addressed as quickly as possible.
There is a serious issue because health care is a people business, and health care workers are the foundation of our health system. I commend the committee for taking the time to study this important issue that has been neglected for far too long.
Health workers are more than nurses, physicians and personal support workers. They also include support, custodial and administrative staff. They also include researchers, lab techs and leadership teams. All of these people are needed for the health system to function and deliver quality care to Canadians.
When we look to develop health workforce solutions, we must consider all of these people rather than take a siloed approach by profession. It has to be a multi-professional approach. The exhaustion and burnout felt by too many health care workers due to the pandemic has made a previously tenuous situation far more critical today. There are job vacancies throughout the entire system and likely more to come once the pandemic subsides. Many health care workers are choosing to retire earlier, move to less demanding roles in the health system or leave the system entirely.
While the waves of the pandemic increase demand on the system, health care needs remain even as the worst of COVID-19 recedes. There is still heightened demand on the system as health care workers deal with medical procedure backlogs, caring for people who have delayed treatment and who come in sicker, and treating a population that is living much longer, often with more complex and chronic conditions.
We must rethink our entire health system. Addressing health human resources challenges must be central to this to ensure a more resilient system that can respond to people's care needs.
We need innovative short–term and long–term solutions to address health care professionals' concerns. Having the right mix and number of health care workers, in the right place at the right time, to meet the needs of people across Canada is paramount.
HealthCareCAN would like to make certain recommendations to the federal government through your committee.
The first recommendation is to improve the immigration process to better leverage the skills of newcomers to help meet existing health system needs over the short and medium terms.
The second is to collaborate with other levels of government, regulators and educational institutions to increase the number of Canadian-trained health care professionals in the right roles to meet long-term needs.
The third one is to collaborate with provincial and territorial governments and health care organizations across the country to support the health, wellness, safety and resiliency of the health care workforce. This could include increased federal investments in mental health and wellness research, and programs and resources specific to health care workers.
The last recommendation is to establish a pan-Canadian health workforce agency responsible for strategic and standardized health workforce data gathering, research and planning, to help us better understand the current workforce and its future needs. This agency could work with provincial and territorial governments, regulators and health care stakeholders and use the information it collects to develop and implement strategies to address systemic health workforce concerns.
Canadians expect the federal government to show leadership and to address these issues in collaboration with provinces, territories and all health care stakeholders.
The status quo is clearly no longer an option. Failing to act now will lead to lower quality care, longer wait times and worse health outcomes.
Thank you.