About Ontario's Health Care System

Commitment to Excellence and Sustainability
To keep our citizens healthy and our health system strong, Ontario, Canada must become the employer of choice in health care. We offer first-class education, competitive career opportunities and a lifestyle balance that will make the health professionals educated here want to stay in Ontario. We also encourage those educated elsewhere to further their careers here.

Ontario’s health care system is unique. It is defined by innovative programs, quality education and the latest technology and research — all designed to meet patient needs and the needs of its practicing and emerging health professionals.


Education
Ontario is proud to offer the finest in health education and continuing education, which are so critical to helping health professionals stay at the forefront of current knowledge. More than 20,000 physicians currently practise here. Many are graduates of the province’s six medical schools, including the innovative new Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Nursing students have access to two-year college programs, collaborative college-university nursing program or four-year university nursing programs that lead to baccalaureate degrees, as well as programs that offer Master’s degrees and doctoral degrees. Students pursuing other health careers also have access to superior education provided through colleges and universities, and facilities like the Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences, which is dedicated to health care — funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care — and offers an innovative interdisciplinary allied health curriculum.

Technology
The province uses technology to help improve accessibility and quality of care. It funds Telehealth Ontario, a free, confidential telephone service that enables the public to access round-the-clock health advice from a Registered Nurse.

Non-traditional service delivery is also a priority, with the provincially-funded Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN). OTN works collaboratively with its many members and partners across the continuum of care to deliver health care services through telemedicine. OTN has made Ontario the most sophisticated and extensive telemedicine environment in Canada. Delivering an array of clinical, educational, and administrative programs and services over 300 sites and covering every geographic region in the province, OTN also uses video conferencing and medical devices to eliminate distance as a barrier to care.

The benefits of telemedicine for health care professionals include:

• Improved access to care for patients
• Reduced time, cost and risk of travel
• Improved co-ordination of care, reducing the need for patient transfers between care facilities and improving continuity of care
• Improved access to health education, thereby supporting health care professionals' development and skills transfer
• Supporting interdisciplinary practice and extending the scope of practice for health professionals as supported through telementoring opportunities

As well, the province is committed to developing electronic medical record sharing, while safeguarding privacy, to ensure comprehensive care.


Progressive Legislation
To meet the needs of our growing and aging population we need new ways of delivering health care and new partnerships among health care professionals. We are committed to developing new provider roles and new models of care that will make the best use of all our skills and resources.

Ontario also offers progressive legislation designed to protect patient privacy (through the Personal Health Information Protection Act), as well as vulnerable patients through an approach to substitute decision making outlined in the Health Care Consent Act.

Reducing Wait Times
Ontario has made a commitment to reduce wait times for five key services: cancer surgery, cardiac procedures, cataract surgery, hip and knee replacements, and MRI and CT diagnostic scans. To meet our commitment, we are working towards increasing the number of our health care professionals with skills in these key areas. 

More about wait times


Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs)
The new Local Health Integration Networks and Family Health Teams underscore the province’s commitment to improving service delivery, integrating care and reforming primary care.