Health for All: Fixing a Broken Healthcare System for Immigrants and Refugees

The cost of healthcare has been established as a barrier for under and uninsured migrant communities in accessing healthcare for decades. Despite the talk, few affordable healthcare options have been made available to these communities.
 
In recent years, the midwifery model of care in Ontario has proved to be a cost effective, accessible option for uninsured populations in Ontario to access maternity care. Payment structures that resulted from collaboration between the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care and professional midwives have served as an innovative way for persons without status living in Ontario to access maternity care.
 
Community Health Centres are another point of access to primary healthcare for underinsured populations in Ontario. Interdisciplinary staffing and coordination of care, with alternative payment structure arrangements from the Ministry of Health, seek to ensure that uninsured populations have access to primary care.    
 
This evening will look at the opportunities and barriers to ensuring health for all! The panelists will discuss the successes of these two models of care, and the victories won by various professionals and communities in providing healthcare for the uninsured. As the momentum and pressure to recognize the fundamental human rights of those residing in our cities and communities grows, so must our organizing efforts within the health sector and beyond.

6:30 PM
Location: Bahen Centre, Room 1180
Address: 40 St. George Street
 
SPEAKERS:

Dr. Meb Rashid, Family Physician
Jackie Esmonde, Immigration Lawyer
Manavi Handa, Registered Midwife