Author: Samira Prasad

In this op-ed, co-authors Drs. Andrew Pinto and Danielle Martin write about the need to scale up community-governed, primary-care teams to allow family doctors to provide care for more patients with the support of nurses, social workers, pharmacists, dietitians, physiotherapists, and other health professionals.

Dr. Tara Kiran spoke with The Globe and Mail about a new report published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal which reveals how Canada falls short in several key areas in comparison with nine other Organization for Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Canada has fewer physicians overall per capita, spends less of its total health budget on primary care, and has relatively high maternal- and infant-mortality rates.

Dr. Carolyn Snider’s research is referenced in this NOW Toronto article discussing homelessness research and the city’s plans for the winter.

Dr. Carolyn Snider and Dr. Stephen Hwang, spoke to The Canadian Press about new research on the dramatic rise in the number of people experiencing homelessness turning to emergency departments for shelter and warmth in Toronto and Ontario.

This Toronto Star op-ed quotes Dr. Tara Kiran in it’s discussion of potential ways of restructuring primary care in Ontario.

Toronto and several municipalities have declared intimate partner violence an epidemic. In this op-ed Dr. Patricia O’Campo, along with Allison Branston and Thea Symonds, call upon other municipalities to do the same. They also share the innovative work their team is doing in collaboration with social services, shelters, and criminal justice providers to safely house women and children experiencing violence.

Brampton Mayor, Patrick Brown is demanding Ottawa help after an asylum claimant camped outside a shelter was found dead Wednesday morning. Dr. Stephen Hwang spoke with Humber News about how governments need to consider both short-term and long-term solutions.

The article also reports that the city’s winter readiness plan changed its warming centres to open at -5 C instead of at the -15 C extreme cold weather alert threshold. The decision was made in part because of a 2019 report from the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions which found that 72 per cent of hypothermia cases in adults experiencing homelessness from 2004 to 2015 occurred when temperatures were warmer than -15 C.

Dr. Tara Kiran spoke to The Globe and Mail about the importance of primary care access and about how people who don’t have family doctors are missing out on more than just cancer screening.

Dr. Sean Rourke spoke with CTV News about the new Healthbox machine at the Carlington Community Health Centre in Ottawa, the first of its kind in Ontario.

CBC News spoke with MAP scientist Dr. Tara Gomes and Toronto’s Drug Checking Services‘ lead Karen McDonald about plans to expand the program and offer existing services throughout the province.

“The federal government says the service will help groups across the province design and execute their own drug checking programs, with the original team acting as a “central repository” for the data generated. Researchers with Toronto’s Drug Checking Service will then analyze the data, helping to paint a fuller picture on how unregulated drug supply trends are playing out across the province and comparing them to the rest of the country.“