With a vision and a prayer, the Ontario government is launching the most revolutionary change in the provincial health-care system in the last 20 years.
If they succeed, the reforms will mean Ontario patients will be huge winners, receiving care faster, more frequently and with less hassle than ever before.
The sweeping changes, introduced Thursday in the Ontario legislature by Health Minister Eric Hoskins, are designed to provide quicker access to family doctors, help patients transition from hospitals to home care and save money by eliminating an entire layer of health-care bureaucracy.
Called the Patients First Act, the 50-page bill would scrap the 14 controversial Community Care Access Centres (CCAC), beef up the role of the 14 Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN) and require amendments some 20 other legislative acts.
The vision, as expressed by Hoskins, is to develop a system that is streamlined, more seamless and ultimately results in more money for services that front-line workers provide for needy patients in their homes and communities.
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