The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly emphasized the importance of the frontline workers who serve our communities. We had the pleasure of meeting with Doug Anderson from the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) and over the course of sixty minutes, we had the opportunity to better understand the policy concerns of nurses and healthcare workers across the province.
Naturally, our conversation began with a discussion about the pandemic, and we expressed our gratitude to the ONA members who have been working tirelessly throughout this health crisis. It was enlightening to hear about the ways that the nursing profession has rapidly adapted to the unprecedented pandemic. Mr. Anderson noted that the well-being, mental health, and compensation of health care workers are at the forefront of ONA’s current advocacy work.
While COVID-19 seems to have overshadowed many issues, we were also interested in ONA's policies prior to 2020. We learned that violence against healthcare workers has been a long-running issue. ONA is actively seeking to collaborate with local partners and government to tackle this problem.
We want to sincerely thank Mr. Anderson for taking the time to meet with us and share insights from the experiences of ONA members. On behalf of OLIP, we also express our gratitude towards the frontline healthcare workers across the province who have been selfless in their service of Ontarians during these challenging times.