Eight-three per cent of adults in this country have a regular primary-care provider, but that still leaves 5.4 million adults without one, a new report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information says.

Seniors 65 years and older are more likely to have access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner than younger adults between 18 and 34, and access to primary care is highest in Ontario and lowest in Nunavut, the CIHI report released Thursday says.

The report measures the baseline of health priorities agreed upon by the federal government and the provinces and territories, including improving access to primary care, reducing wait times for mental-health and substance-use counselling, recruiting more health-care workers, decreasing surgical wait times and increasing the use of electronic health information.

Data from Quebec was not available for this report but will be available in future, according to CIHI.

The institute will also collect data to measure progress on two more health priorities in the near future, including ensuring seniors can age with dignity and improving cultural safety for Indigenous patients in the health-care system.

There will be a report every year to measure progress in these health-care priorities across the country, federal health minister Mark Holland said in an interview on Wednesday.

ThursdayB次元官网网址檚 report says the surgical backlogs that happened during the COVID-19 pandemic have decreased and the number of surgeries performed has mostly returned to pre-pandemic levels across Canada.

Holland said each of the health-care funding agreements signed with the provinces and territories includes targets for the number of doctors and nurses that need to be added to the workforce.

Many rural and Indigenous communities are particularly hard-hit by the primary care shortage, the minister said.

In addition to recruiting doctors, nurse practitioners and nurses from other jurisdictions, the solution requires a B次元官网网址渟ustained effortB次元官网网址� to encourage more First Nations, M茅tis and Inuit people B次元官网网址� as well as others living in small towns and rural areas B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渢o be choosing health careers and really seeing far more people serving their own communities,B次元官网网址� Holland said.

The CIHI report noted that even if they have a primary-care provider, a recent survey showed Canadians still B次元官网网址渇ace greater difficulty getting same-day, next-day, evening or weekend appointmentsB次元官网网址� compared with people in nine other high-income countries including the U.S. and the U.K.

Jenna Kedy, a 20-year-old patient advocate who worked with CIHI on the report, said sheB次元官网网址檚 grateful to have a family doctor after being without one for almost two years, but getting immediate appointments is a challenge.

Kedy, who lives in Halifax, requires specialist care for several chronic conditions, including juvenile arthritis, fibromyalgia, anxiety and depression.

Having a family doctor is vital to B次元官网网址渃onnect the dots for youB次元官网网址� and keep track of her multiple health issues and medications, she said, but her doctor is too overworked to be available as much as she needs, she said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

B次元官网网址淚f I ever had a big thing come up, itB次元官网网址檚 not like I could call my family doctor and go see him that week,B次元官网网址� Kedy said.

B次元官网网址淎s someone with such unpredictable illnesses, it still does cause unnecessary trips into the ER,B次元官网网址� she said.

B次元官网网址淭he doctors are overwhelmed and they canB次元官网网址檛 provide the same level of care they could have if they had less on their plate.B次元官网网址�

According to the CIHI report, there were 48,199 family physicians in Canada in 2022. In P.E.I, New Brunswick, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C. and Yukon, more family doctors were entering the workforce than leaving it.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba, more were leaving the workforce than entering it. Data was not available for Quebec, N.W.T. or Nunavut.

But almost all provinces and territories saw more nurse practitioners entering the workforce in 2022 than leaving it.

The exceptions were Yukon, where more nurse practitioners were leaving than entering the workforce. Quebec data was not available.

Cheryl Chui, director of health system analytics at CIHI, said one of the other health-care priorities B次元官网网址� using connected electronic health information systems B次元官网网址� is an important part of solving the primary care shortage.

ThatB次元官网网址檚 because it will B次元官网网址渆nable better sharing of information and to reduce some of the administrative burden that health-care professionals face,B次元官网网址� she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press