Newmarket resident Kolleen McCaughan is very thankful to have a longtime family doctor.
McCaughan is a regular for Toronto-based Dr. Earl Scwhartz, who has been a doctor of her and her family for decades. She credits Schwartz for catching her breast cancer in 2014 early enough to be more easily treated, as well as getting her a needed cochlear implant in 2011.
“I hear a lot of family doctors don't take time these days. He does take his time. He listens,” she said. “He does the annual physical every year and follows up on testing and everything … He’s so great with elderly patients, just listening to them and hearing them out and validating them.”
The Ontario College of Family Physicians is drawing attention to the valuable contributions of its members through the Life with a Doctor Campaign. The effort is meant to shine a light on the good doctors do in their community, using patient experiences.
The campaign has run since 2022, but a recent round of the campaign honoured 91 doctors in the Toronto area for their outstanding work with patients, including Schwartz.
McCaughan said she wanted to contribute and submit her account to put out something positive about doctors.
“The Ontario College of Family Physicians gets a lot of complaints,” she said. “They don’t very often get the compliments. So, everybody’s quick to complain, but nobody is regularly giving them compliments that they should, and that’s why I wanted to be heard. I’m thrilled for Dr. Scwhartz, he deserves it.”
For the campaign, the college asked the public: “Tell us how your family doctor has gone above and beyond for you.”
“What we heard from patients in all corners of the province, including in Toronto, is that family physicians are there for patients, providing care when they need it most,” college president Dr. John Varughese said. “We are thankful for the dedication and care that family physicians show to patients.”
The messaging comes when Ontario is struggling with doctor shortages, with more than 2.5 million Ontarians without a family doctor.
McCaughan said the day Schwartz retires will be a sad one, but she is thankful to have a family doctor.
“It’s a great safety net. Both my husband and I are getting older, and that’s when things come up, such as cancer, diabetes,” she said. “You really need to stay on top of it, and if you don’t have a family doctor, there’s no way you can get into specialists nowadays.”
The college calls on the government and health-care leaders to take steps to increase access to family doctors.
“Family physicians are the foundation of our health-care system, and every Ontarian should have access to one,” college CEO Deepy Sur said. “We can get there by ensuring family physicians have the right supports in the right place to allow them to continue to provide patient care.”
You can find more information on the campaign at LifeWithADoctor.ca.
