I’m pleased to rise in this House to have the opportunity to speak to Bill 60 and our government’s plans to clear the surgical backlog so Ontarians can get the care they need when and where they need it. We are proud that, as a result of almost $1 billion in funding from this government and the hard work of our hospital sector, doctors and nurses, Ontario has returned to pre-pandemic wait times for surgical and diagnostic procedures—pre-pandemic. This bill is part of our many efforts to do even better.

I should add, when I look at the clock, that the member from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry will be speaking to this bill—I’ll be sharing my time with the member.

As a result of our investments, Ontario has some of the shortest wait times in all of Canada, but we know that’s not enough, because even with all the success from our surgical recovery funding, we’re still back to where we were with the backlog that we inherited from the previous government. We can do more and we will do more to improve wait times across the province. That’s why we introduced Bill 60, which supports the expansion of surgical, procedural and diagnostic services in the community. By doing this, we are reducing wait times by increasing access to surgeries and procedures such as MRIs, CT scans, cataract surgeries, orthopedics, colonoscopies and others.

In December 2022, this government invested in operating funding for 27 new MRI machines, including one in my riding. The Smith Falls site of the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital is one of those recipients. For over 30 years, community surgery and diagnostic centres have been partners in Ontario’s health care system—for over 30 years. This is not new.

Like hospitals, community surgical and diagnostic centres are held accountable to the highest-quality standards, the standards Ontarians deserve and expect across the health care system. In committee, Dr. Agarwal commented, “I’ll say that the Ontario Association of Radiologists strongly supports the current Bill 60 that’s being proposed and we applaud the government for its innovative approach to solving a very complex problem,” in reference to expanding integrated community health services centres to address the MRI and CT backlog.

To make that happen, we are investing more than $18 million in existing centres—there are over 900 of them—to cover care for thousands of patients, including:

—more than 49,000 hours of MRI and CT scans;

—4,800 cataract surgeries;

—900 ophthalmic surgeries;

—1,000 minimally invasive gynecological surgeries; and

—2,845 plastic surgeries.

I would like to emphasize that this is all publicly funded. The costs of receiving these insured services in community surgical and diagnostic centres is covered by an Ontario health card, never your credit card. This is an expansion—an expansion—of our publicly funded health care system. It makes your OHIP card even more powerful.

To support integration, quality and funding accountability, oversight of community surgical centres will transition to Ontario Health. That’s beautiful. It embraces our community health services centres. This bill helps to create an environment where all of our health service providers work together in a more efficient and productive way, which is what Ontario Health and our Ontario health teams are all about. This improved integration into the broader health care system will allow Ontario Health to continue to track available community surgical capacity, assess regional needs and respond more quickly across the province and within regions where patient need exist.

Our government knows that by expanding health care services across the province, we need more health care providers to work in these settings. That’s why our government has launched the largest health care recruiting and training campaign in the province’s history. Hiring more health care professionals is the most effective step to ensure you and your family are able to see a health care provider where and when you need it. Well-trained and well-supported doctors, nurses, personal support workers and more are the people you rely on when you need care.

Let’s talk training—growing our own. This year, we’re training more health professionals than ever before:

—455 new spots for physicians in training;

—52 new physician assistant training spots;

—150 new nurse practitioner spots;

—1,500 additional nursing spots; and

—24,000 personal support workers in training by the end of 2023.

We’re investing to reduce fees for nurses who are ready and available to resume or begin practising in Ontario, who are retired and internationally educated. Some $15 million will temporarily cover the cost of examination applications and registration fees for internationally trained and retired nurses, saving them up to $1,500 each. This is often a barrier for nurses wanting to re-enter the workforce. This will help up to 5,000 internationally educated nurses and up to 3,000 retired nurses begin working sooner to strengthen our front lines.

In 2022, we helped 6,727 internationally trained health care workers get certified and start working in their chosen profession—6,727. You can’t argue with success.

Part of this investment will also be used to develop a centralized site for all internationally educated health professionals to streamline their access to supports such as education, registration and employment in their profession or an alternative career. This initiative will make it easier for internationally trained health professionals to navigate the system and get the support they need on their path to getting licensed to practise in Ontario.

To continue to support our health system, we will scale up the Enhanced Extern Program and Supervised Practice Experience Partnership program for an additional year. Since January 2022, more than 2,000 internationally educated nurses have been enrolled through the Supervised Practice Experience Partnership program, and over 1,300 of them are already fully registered.

We are providing additional funding to hire over 3,100 internationally educated nurses to work under the supervision of regulated health professionals in order to give them an opportunity to meet the experience requirements and language proficiency requirements they need to become fully licensed to work in Ontario. New funding will be extended to the home and community care sector to extend the reach of the program this year. This investment also expands the Enhanced Extern Program for an additional year.

Last year the program helped hire up to 5,000 qualified nursing, medical, respiratory therapy, paramedic, physiotherapy and occupational therapy students and internationally educated nurses to work in hospitals across the province.

Increased funding for both the Supervised Practice Experience Partnership program and Enhanced Extern Program will also allow hospitals to continue to hire more preceptors, mentors and coordinators to work with students and internationally educated nurses.

Another success story that I’ll just add in is the community paramedicine program. Since we introduced that and moved it across the province, it has now expanded and has supported more than 30,000 Ontarians.

Speaker, there are also many health care workers from across the country who want to work in Ontario. Through this legislation, we’re making innovative changes to make it easier and faster for them to begin working and providing care to people in Ontario. We are significantly reducing unnecessary bureaucratic delays and bringing reinforcements to the front lines of our health care system.

With new as-of-right rules, Ontario will become the first province in Canada to allow health care workers registered in other provinces and territories to immediately start caring for you, without the delay of having to first register with one of Ontario’s health regulatory colleges. They are already registered with a regulatory college. This change will help health care workers overcome excessive red tape that makes it difficult for them to practise in Ontario.

We will also help hospitals and other health organizations temporarily increase staffing when they need to fill vacancies or manage periods of high patient volume, such as during a flu surge. This will allow nurses, paramedics, respiratory therapists and other health care professionals to work outside of their regular responsibilities or settings, as long as they have the knowledge, skill and judgment to do so, providing hospitals and other settings with more flexibility to ensure health care professionals are filling the most in-demand roles at the right time. Together, these new initiatives will strengthen our workforce during the busy months ahead and ensure care is there when and where you need it most.

With that, I will close by thanking all of our dedicated health care workers for the incredible work they do.