Health minister maintains more `virtual care´ coming despite layoffs
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

Layoffs of 44 staff at the Ontario Telemedicine Network following a funding cut by Premier Doug Ford’s government won’t curb plans to provide more virtual care to patients across the province, Health Minister Christine Elliott maintains.But critics say the axe falling on one-sixth of the agency’s workforce raises questions about the province’s ability to rely more on video conferences between patients, doctors, nurses and other health-care providers as part of Elliott’s promised reforms to make the medical system more responsive and user-friendly.“They’re talking about more virtual health-care services as part of their plan and then they turn around and cut the very organization that’s providing those services,� said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who also challenged Ford’s election promise that no workers would lose their jobs in a quest for “efficiencies.�“How do you square that?� Elliott said Wednesday none of the cuts at the telemedicine network were front-line care providers and called the firings “reasonable and pragmatic.�“This is a decision that was made by OTN. I’m certainly not going to second-guess them,� she told reporters.Read more:Ontario mayors angered by public health cuts blast province for ‘downloading by stealth’List of municipalities against public health cuts grows across provinceToronto clashes with province over public health cuts“It doesn’t mean that we take any ... direction away from digitization. It is vitally important in our modernization of our health-care system.�But Green Leader Mike Schreiner said the health minister failed to explain how telemedicine remains a priority, particularly for remote and rural areas with less access to medical professionals than major cities.“This government is so full of contradictions. It’s one after another. They say they support something and then t ...