Author: Samira Prasad

A new study led by Dr. Tara Gomes shows that nearly two-thirds of people who died from substance-related toxicities between 2018 and 2022 had previous encounters with the health-care system for substance-use disorders. Dr. Gomes spoke with TVO about the rise in deaths during the pandemic, the current state of the overdose crisis, and what needs to change to connect people with the right treatments in hospital and in the community.

OurCare asked approximately 10 thousand Canadians for their impressions about the state of our health-care system. It found frustration and dissatisfaction with primary care, particularly when it comes to access to family doctors. Dr. Tara Kiran spoke with CBC Metro Ontario about the findings.

Dr. Tara Gomes spoke to The Globe and Mail about her new research showing nearly two-thirds of Ontario residents who died from accidental drug and alcohol overdoses in recent years had interactions with the health care system for substance-use disorders before their deaths – but only a small number of people were able to access addiction-treatment services.

Dr. Tara Kiran was a guest on the Toronto Star’s This Matters podcast to speak about the OurCare study’s final report, which shares what people across Canada have experienced when seeking primary care, and their recommendations on how to fix the current system.

Dr. Sean Rourke spoke with CBC about the alarming rise of syphilis in Canada, and how believes it should be treated as an emergency before more vulnerable Canadians bear the brunt of escalating outbreaks. Dr. Rourke also spoke about how he would like to see more self-testing options.

The lack of progress on the Government’s promise to create a national program for universal access to drugs risks a political crisis. Dr. Nav Persaud‘s research was recently featured in The Lancet report discussing this.

“Nav Persaud, a family physician who is a Canada Research Chair in Health Justice at the University of Toronto, says that physicians across Canada struggle to help patients who cannot afford drugs, which creates obstacles to achieving good treatment outcomes for millions of patients. Persaud’s research has shown that access to low-cost drugs increases treatment adherence and yields substantial subsequent savings for Canada’s provincial, territorial, and federal universal-access health-care systems.”

Dr. Tara Kiran spoke with the Ottawa Citizen about the launch of the OurCare final report, and how Canada’s primary care system needs to change. “We haven’t had the size of investments in primary care that are needed. If you look at the total health budget spent on primary care, Canada is much lower compared to peer countries,” says Dr. Kiran.

Following the release of the OurCare final report, CBC News Manitoba, spoke with Michael Redhead Champagne, who lead the OurCare roundtable with Indigenous youth in Winnipeg this past November. He shared that the youth explained how both they and their family members often get lower-quality care in the health-care system.

The Toronto Star spoke with OurCare national lead Dr. Tara Kiran and OurCare panelist member Sandra Epp in their coverage of the project’s final report. The report covers the findings of this cross-Canada initiative, and makes recommendations for improving the primary care system.

CBC News featured the findings and recommendations of the OurCare study’s final report. They also spoke with Dr. Tara Kiran, national lead for OurCare, about what she heard across the country and some potential solutions.