the foundation will also connect with more organizations and communities about partnerships. ng added the foundation is seeking support, financial aid and donations of medical supplies from health care suppliers.
“we have physicians in every corner of the province, so we have an understanding of what is going on,” ng said.
ng said the health care system was designed 60 years ago with a narrow vision of medical care delivery. he said that vision didn’t take into account how to accommodate the socio-economic, racial, gender and sexual preference differences that society now recognizes.
“about 95 per cent of physicians back then were men,” ng said. “even children’s health care was viewed as just medicine for little people.
“the uniqueness of the lbgtq community wasn’t really recognized by the profession until the aids crisis in the 1980s.”
geography also has emerged as a challenging hurdle in providing equitable health care, especially for indigenous communities.
ng said an indigenous physician based in walpole island recently shared her stories with local physicians about how the community has nowhere near the level of medical resources other municipalities enjoy.
“walpole island is part of our region and they didn’t even have an office for her to set up and she wanted to practice there,” ng said.