Monday marked the grand opening of the Gilles Arcan Centre for Health Equity at the Northern Ontario School of Physicians in Sudbury.
The grand opening of the Gilles Arcan Centre for Health Equity at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine in Sudbury on June 10, 2024. (Alana Everson/CTV Northern Ontario)
Officials at the centre said the health situation of residents in the north is the worst of any other region in the state.
“Health disparities are significant in Northern Ontario,” said Dr. Sarita Verma, dean of NOSM.
“Emergency rooms are closed, there's a shortage of primary care physicians. We have high rates of chronic mental illness and addiction. People don't have clean water or good food.”
Officials recognized that people in Northern Ontario have shorter life expectancies.
“In terms of life expectancy, in terms of mortality, it's two years less than the rest of Ontario,” said Dr. Erin Cameron, academic director of the Jill Arcand Centre for Health Equity.
“So this is really what we want to change and what we can start to improve.”
Centre officials said that at present it is not yet fully understood how severe health disparities are in the north or why they exist.
“The Dr. Gilles Arcan Center for Health Equity will be able to lead the research and data collection to advance understanding and provide solutions that are made in the North, for the North,” said Dr. Alex Anawati, associate professor at NOSM.
Anawati said Northern Ontario's vast geography and language challenges can pose barriers to healthcare for many people.
“We have many Francophone communities in our country with special health care needs who want to receive health care services in their native language, their mother tongue,” the professor said.
“There are also many resilient indigenous communities who have survived despite colonialism and enforced inequalities, and achieving adequate health for them is extremely difficult.”
Officials said the centre's goal is to connect what's learned through research with what Northern Ontarians need and deserve in health care.
