This year, there's no way Ontario's politicians can say they don't know how to fix the health care system -- at least not as far as the Ontario Medical Association is concerned.

For the first time, the organization released a detailed, 35-page policy platform this year, outlining its priorities for the next provincial government. Called "Better care. Healthier patients. A stronger Ontario," it followed a lengthy consultation with 1,000 members of the public, physicians from across the province and OMA board members.

It was released in January in the hopes of giving each of the parties enough time to incorporate its suggestions into their platforms, OMA president Dr. Stewart Kennedy told CTVNews.ca.

"We want to make sure we have an impact on the policy makers," said Kennedy. "Patients and the people of Ontario listen to physicians... If we're on the front lines doing work on a day-to-day basis, taking care of the health needs of patients, we also know where the problems are."

The policy platform includes dozens of specific proposals to modernize the health care system, improve patient access to treatment and promote healthier living, including:

  • moving diagnostic testing out of hospitals and into independent care facilities
  • spending more money on preventative measures, such as anti-smoking campaigns, to avoid the significantly higher costs of treating preventable illnesses
  • reducing the amount of paperwork required from doctors, to allow them more time to work directly with patients
  • increasing the overall number of hospital beds
  • increasing capacity in long-term care facilities so patients are being cared for in the correct setting
  • helping low-income students pay for medical school to increase the diversity of medical graduates

"We (know the government) will not be able to address them all in the next three or four years," Dr. Kennedy said. "We want to make sure our priorities are out there so the (government) can pick and choose which issues they want to tackle on a priority basis."

Some aspects of the platform -- such as the proposal to move diagnostic facilities outside of hospitals -- would actually save the government money, notes Dr. Kennedy.

"There's good evidence we can... improve access at a lesser cost," he said, noting outpatient procedures are often bumped by hospital patients who need access to diagnostic tests, causing backlogs and inefficiencies. "The hospital is a place you want to make sure you go when you're ill so you can be in an acute care setting where you have a whole team of professionals to take care of patient needs. It's not a good place to be when you're not sick."

In addition to out-patients tying up hospital resources, there are also thousands of people taking up hospital beds while they wait for spaces to become free in long-term care facilities. It adds up to significant overcrowding in some hospitals -- a growing problem with direct health effects, according to the Ontario Health Coalition.

The Coalition, a public advocacy group, released a report in July linking the province's cramped hospital conditions to recent outbreaks of infections like C. difficile. It said Ontario's hospitals have an extremely high occupancy rate of 97.8 per cent, and the fewest beds per capita of any Canadian province -- 2.5 per 1,000 residents.

"Ontario has a serious problem of hospital overcrowding, yielding further evidence that hospital bed cuts are not being offset by a shift in services to the community or other institutions," said the report, which was also released as a pre-election advocacy tool.

The report linked overcrowding to cancelled surgeries, emergency room backlogs, patients stuck on stretchers in hallways and the spread of disease. C. difficile, one of the most common hospital-related infections, has claimed 24 lives this year through outbreaks in six Ontario hospitals.

In their latest term in government, the Liberals implemented the report's suggestion that OHIP pay for smoking cessation drugs. The party's recently-released platform also promises funding for doctor house calls and home retrofits. That pledge is designed to keep seniors in their homes -- and out of long-term care facilities -- for longer.

The Progressive Conservatives' platform seems to have integrated some of the OMA's ideas, promising 5,000 more long-term care beds and reduced emergency room wait times, among other measures aimed at reducing bureaucracy and improving access to care.

The NDP has also vowed to reduce emergency room wait-times and add long-term care beds, and would also launch strategies aimed at preventing obesity -- another hallmark of the OMA proposal.

When asked about the issue they see as most important in the lead-up to an election, nine out of 10 Ontarians will choose health care, said Kennedy. Concern for our health system crosses all political lines, which could explain why the organization is steering clear from endorsing a party in the lead-up to this fall's provincial election.

"We want to make sure health is a priority with all the provincial parties," said Kennedy. "We want to make sure we have quality health care in a publicly funded system... What we are endorsing is health care."

With files from The Canadian Press