We can't take health for granted. As a government we know this. That's why we've taken action to keep you safer, healthier and treated properly when you need attention.

Our public health-care system is one of Ontario's competitive advantages when it comes to attracting jobs and investmen. It's also a defining characteristic of our way of life. We take care of each other.

In 2006, we focused our health-care investments on helping people stay well and making sure people get the care they need, when and where they need it. That meant making improvements in both wellness and health care.

The Smoke-Free Ontario Act is an example of our focus on improving wellnes. We want to reduce smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke. At the same time, we set up programs to assist tobacco farmers and their communities with diversification efforts.

New and redeveloped health-care facilities in rural communities such as Grimsby, Woodstock, Mattawa, Sioux Lookout and Peterborough speak to our commitment to improve health car. More than 100 hospital projects all across Ontario are now moving forward.

In the past year, we worked together with rural communities to expand access to doctors and nurses. We worked with hospitals and clinics to reduce wait times for important procedures - and we did it the Ontario way - for everyone.

Better health also involves individual lifestyles. That starts in youth and continues through life. That's why the Ontario school curriculum now includes more physical fitness. We've also doubled our investment in student nutrition programs to ensure 315,000 elementary and secondary students receive healthy breakfasts, lunches and snacks to help them be ready to learn and succeed.

Better Access to Health Care

Ensuring better access to health care is a goal for all of us. It starts with expanding medical schools, training more health-care professionals and certifying more foreign-trained doctors. But that is just the start.

If also involves community strategies to attract and retain medical professionals. A three-year strategy in Huron East/Seaforth, for example, has already developed and tested recruitment and retention strategies which are being shared with other rural communities. 

Taking steps to avoid preventable diseases and ailments is fundamental to Ontarians. In 2006, three vaccines for chicken pox, meningococcal disease and pneumococcal disease were newly included in the province's health strategy and 1.2 million kids are better off because of it.

Helping Ontarians to recover from illness is equally important. In 2006, we delivered a record $1.54 billion into home care to help an additional 95,700 Ontarians with short-term acute care in their homes. We are also supporting innovative research to rehabilitate stroke survivors.

Putting more money into rural hospitals and other health facilities is a fundamental pillar of our approach as well.

Then there is the special attention being directed to wait times for medical procedures. As a result, Ontarians are spending less time waiting for MRI and CT scans. Hip and knee replacements are scheduled faster and the same is true for cataract surgery, cancer treatment and cardiac treatments.

Goal

• Improved access to health-care services.

Strategies

• Increase the number of health-care professionals in rural areas
  
  
• Increase access to primary health care by enrolling more Ontarians in Family Health Teams
  
  
• Improve access to health-care services that reflect the needs of rural communities
  
  
• Invest in the infrastructure of health-care facilities

Our Progress

• Forty-four Family Health Teams have been approved in rural communities since we reported to you last year. The teams will improve and expand access to comprehensive primary care for Ontarians.
  

  Remember when doctors had time to make house calls? The Brockville Community Family Health Team does. They're doing it with Nurse Practitioners. The team of two new Nurse Practitioners perform annual check-ups and other treatment duties from a mobile clinic. "It's a very innovative way of providing health care and it means better access for our communities," says Ruth Kitson of the Lanark, Leeds and Grenville Victorian Order of Nurses.

• Since the launch of the Wait Times Strategy, the Ontario government has invested more than $611 million to perform 138,800 more cataract surgeries, hip and knee joint replacements, cardiac procedures and cancer surgeries. We've also done 365,000 more MRI exams and 234,500 additional CT scans.

• The HealthForce Ontario Strategy, unveiled in 2006, is a comprehensive plan to get the right number and mix of health-care professionals to maintain our world-class health-care system. The strategy already has plans to create a one-stop centre for internationally educated health-care professionals and a guarantee of full-time jobs for Ontario nursing graduates starting in 2007. A HealthForce marketing and recruitment centre will also help rural and under-serviced communities.
• Community Care Access Centres received $43.3 million in extra support to help them provide acute home care, end-of-life care and chronic home care services.

• In 2006, the Ontario government invested an additional $50 million to assist communities with land ambulance services as part of a $300 million investment over three years to achieve the goal of 50:50 provincial-municipal funding for this service.

• To improve access to doctors, we're increasing the number of first-year medical spaces by 23 per cent by 2008 and we're creating four new satellite medical education campuses closer to rural areas.

• We'll be congratulating the first 56 graduates from the new Northern Ontario School of Medicine in just a couple of years. The school received an additional investment of $6.7 million from the province in 2006 to match money raised through the Northern Ontario School of Medicine Bursary Fund.

• Six health-care projects, valued at $2.77 million, were initiated in rural communities through the Rural Economic Development Program in 2006. These initiatives improved health-care access and service. 
  

  Once a new doctor is trained in Ontario or immigrates from abroad, he or she has an important life decision to make. Where do I want to live and raise my family? Beautiful ruaral Ontario has strong appeal but we know that appeal has to be bundled with professional considerations. In 2006, we helped communities who wanted to actively recruit health-care professionals. Through the Rural Economic Development Program we've helped towns like Delhi build turnkey health clinics which are appealing to new doctors because they reduce overhead costs and administrative tasks while providing a Family Health Team opportunity for support.

• Another way we are helping rural and northern Ontario attract doctors involves education incentives. Our programs provide training incentives in exchange for selecting an under-serviced community in which to set up practice. Over 500 soon-to-be licenced doctors are currently in the program.

• The "Grow-Your-Own-Nurse Practitioner Program" is helping rural Registered Nurses train to become Nurse Practitioners and provide more health-care services in their hometowns. The program, announced in 2006, helps cover salary and education expenses during the training period.

Healthy Living

You've heard your parents say it: If you don't have your health, little else matters. Many lifestyle decisions are individual decisions but there are things we can do to encourage positive choices. In schools, we can substitute healthy snacks for junk food. On the job and in public places, we can protect you from second-hand smoke. In your community, we can create recreation opportunities.  

Being safe on the job is a major concern of the Ontario government. In 2006, we extended the Occupational Health and Safety Act to include farming operations. We also protected vulnerable workers by ending the 60-hour work week.

The food we grow and process in Ontario is often referred to as the best in the world and we want to keep it that way for every Ontarian. That's why we have programs like HACCP Advantage (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) to help food processors safeguard the food supply while meeting customer demands.

Staying active is essential to healthy living and that's why Ontario launched its Trails Strategy in 2006.

Goal

• Communities that promote healthy living and protect public health and the environment. 

Strategies

• Develop strategies for reducing tobacco use, preventing obesity and increasing physical activity
  
  
• Provide tools and resources to meet government policies and regulations that protect the environment
  
  
• Build community partnerships with law enforcement officials to develop local crime prevention strategies.

Our Progress

• The Smoke-Free Ontario Act is an example of our focus on improving wellness. It protects you from second-hand smoke. We've expanded the bans on smoking in enclosed public spaces and workplaces and restricted the promotion and display of tobacco products in stores.
  

  A new six-station dialysis unit is being located at the Leamington District Memorial Hospital. "We are so pleased that dialysis patients in our area will now be able to receive this service without having to travel to Windsor or Chatham for treatment," said Warren Chant, President and CEO of the Leamington District Memorial Hospital. The government committed $825,000 towards the $1.7 million project.
  

• We opened recreation facilities that promote healthy lifestyles for people of all ages in places like Niagara Falls, Cornwall and Beausoleil First Nation.
  
  

• 'You are what you eat' is probably how you would describe the motivation behind Ontario's Action Plan for Healthy Eating and Active Living. The $10-million plan makes advice from a dietician just a telephone call or e-mail away. It is also supporting the Northern Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Program which provides nutritious -- and often Ontario-grown --- foods to children in northern schools.

  The Ontario Trails Council and the Ontario government are committed to supporting health promotion and active living. In 2006, the two parties unveiled the Ontario Trails Strategy and so far, the government has invested $412,000 to help volunteers with 17 trail projects and encourage Ontarians to be more physically active.
  

• Ontario's Food Safety Strategy is enhancing Ontario's already strong food safety systems by updating standards and inspection programs, and by using new science and technologies to minimize risks to both public health and the economy. Our vision is a science-based system that links the food chain from "field-to-fork."
  

  "Journey to Your Good Health" will be a bigger feature at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair thanks to a $973,800 grant from the Rural Economic Development Program. The educational exhibit will help children discover how food and exercise affects health.

• The Meat Plant Assistance Program is helping provincially licensed meat operations comply with more stringent food safety regulations. The $25.4 million program is being delivered over four years and is designed to help industry with education, training, technical and business decisions, and facility and operation upgrades.

• Communities in Action is a provincial government fund that invests in community sport and physical activity. In 2006, $1.5 million worth of projects were supported in rural Ontario through groups like 4-H and the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres.
  
  
• Ontario's Drinking Water Stewardship Program, announced as an integral part of the recently passed Clean Water Act 2006, will help farmers and rural businesses keep local sources of drinking water safe. Initially, $7 million will be available in 2007/08 for projects that protect land and water surrounding municipal wells and surface water intakes as well as local education and outreach related to source protection planning.
  

  "Above-and-beyond the call of duty" would start to describe the many reasons why OPP Constable Mark Gaudet was recognized for his work in the community of Sioux Lookout in 2006. As Officer of the Year, Constable Gaudet worked tirelessly on community policing committees and is a strong advocate for youth programs, including a recreational program called "Fun with Cops" and the Student Safe Grad Committee.

• The OPP Youth Summer Camp in Orillia lets rural youth attend camp with OPP officers as counsellors. The annual camp is yet another way that community partnerships are built with law enforcement officials to develop local crime prevention strategies.

Sound Land-Use and Environmental Planning

How we use, protect and monitor our natural environment is central to our good health and the generations who will follow. That's why we have taken action to clean up the air we breathe, safeguard the water we drink, and protect greenspace.

The community of Lakefield has a vision. It plans to build Ontario's first outdoor speed skating oval. Using green technology, a geo-thermal heat pump will make the ice and heat an adjacent recreation building. The community project received $849,968 from the province to help with this green energy initiative and encourage active, healthy living.

Ontario is now a Canadian leader at promoting clean, renewable energy. The Ontario Ethanol Growth Fund will help all of us drive cleaner vehicles. Similarly, investments in new bio-energy research at Atikokan's generating station or the Erie Shores wind farm illustrate Ontario's commitment to green energy and cleaner air.

Ontario's farmers and rural landowners are good stewards of the land. We know that. The Environmental Farm Plans prepared by our farmers are a testament to that commitment.

Goal

Strategies

• Develop tools and resources to implement planning reforms
  
  
• Support alternative and renewable energy opportunities
  
  
• Strengthen the province's agricultural sector by acting on advice from the Agricultural Advisory Team
  
  

Our Progress

• Introduction
• Jobs and Prosperity
• Success for Students
• Conclusion

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