March 3, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE: Consultation and Consensus Required - Bill 88 May Strand Thousands in Healthcare Mayhem
TORONTO: Thorough consultation and a rational, practical approach must be taken by the Ontario government as it reviews and makes changes to regulated health professions say practitioners, patients, teachers, and advocates of Traditional Chinese Medicine TCM and acupuncture.
Responding to the government’s Working for Workers Bill 88, a collective representing thousands of TCM practitioners and Acupuncturists is expressing deep concern over the legislation that would deregulate their profession and potentially strand between 300,000 – 600,000 patients in a healthcare system that is already overburdened and burned out.
“We understand the need to review the performance of regulatory colleges and, when necessary, make changes that improve outcomes and public safety, but Schedule 5 of Bill 88 does not achieve that goal, and, in fact, does exactly the opposite. Deregulation of Chinese medicine and acupuncture will remove the safeguards, standards of practice, and professional competencies put in place to protect the public from negligent practitioners,” says Mary Wu, President of Toronto School of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Statements issued by the Ontario Ministry of Health claiming the current regulatory college system is a “job killer” are not accurate and do not justify deregulation of the profession, says the collective. “Regulatory colleges are designed specifically to protect the public through application of standards in training and conduct. They also review cases of alleged misconduct and when appropriate, apply disciplinary measures. The college does not control the number of people working in the profession or kill jobs by preventing licensed individuals from practicing”, observes Wu.
“Deregulating the sector is tantamount to swatting a gnat with a sledge hammer”, says Heather Kenny, President of Traditional Chinese Medicine Ontario. “If the government is not satisfied with the performance of a regulatory college, it has the power to assume control. We would also note that the government is in charge of appointments to boards that oversee the regulatory colleges, and the Ministry of Health has not made an appointment to the TCM college since 2017”, notes Kenny.
On behalf of thousands of Ontario practitioners, their patients and their support staff we urge the government to immediately remove Schedule 5 from Bill 88 and initiate a fulsome, open and transparent consultation process to identify issues and provide rationalized recommendations for our sector.
Heather Kenny, President, Traditional Chinese Medicine Ontario
Cedric Cheung, President, The Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Association of Canada
Adam Chan, President, Traditional Chinese Medicine Physicians Associations of Canada
Dylan Kirk, President, Council of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Schools of Ontario
Mary Xiumei Wu, President, Toronto School of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Bin Jiang Wu, President, Ontario College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Ryan Brooks, President, Eight Branches College of Eastern Medicine
Enza Ierullo, Executive Director, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine Academy
Ian Marshall, President, International Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine
John Liu, President, John and Jenny TCM College
Danny Li, President, Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Backgrounder:
- Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Acupuncture have been a regulated health profession in Ontario since 2006.
- Chinese medicine and acupuncture are one of twenty-six regulated health professions under the authority of the Ministry of Health.
- Similar to a doctoral practitioner of western medicine, TCM and acupuncture practitioners undergo rigorous study and training. Registered TCM practitioners are only licensed after more than 2200 hours of study and hundreds of hours of clinical supervision.
- As a result of regulation, TCM and acupuncture are now widely accepted as safe and effective forms of medical treatment and are practiced across Canada and around the world.
- Deregulation of the profession will put the profession back decades and allow non-trained or lesser trained individuals to practice a discipline that, if done incorrectly, can cause serious injury, including pneumothorax (lung collapse) and death.
- Deregulation, as proposed under Schedule 5 of Bill 88 will give insurance companies the opportunity to deny the coverage of acupuncture when it is performed by TCM-trained acupuncturists and instead favour non-TCM trained regulated health practitioners who generally have less training and scope in the practice of acupuncture.
- The TCM Repeal Act will have a negative impact on the 2,760 registered members of the CTCMPAO, their families, jobs, business, and subsequently the business they frequent; creating more instability in an already struggling economy.
- Most TCM practitioners have a roster of 100-250 active patients which, in a conservative estimate, could leave between 300,000 and 600,000 patients without their choice of healthcare.
- At least fifteen Ontario-based TCM and acupuncture schools, their staff, teaching faculty, program directors, owners, and hundreds of enrolled students will see their programs rendered irrelevant and unnecessary in the absence of minimum education requirements that the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario (CTCMPAO, “College”) currently requires.
- Associations that have lobbied for the Ontario deregulation have valid issues with the English language requirements set out by the CTCMPAO. Rather than dissolve the CTCMPAO, a simple solution would be to follow the precedent set by British Columbia and allow for both the Chinese and English languages in practice.
- Ironically, the very bill that seeks to address labour mobility into Ontario will deny TCM and acupuncture the labour mobility to move to other regulated provinces.
-30-
For more information:
Tags: #saveonacu
Links: https://news.ontario.ca/en/backgrounder/1001668/working-for-workers-act-2022
https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-42/session-2/bill-88
March 3, 2022
Letter of Invitation to the Coalition to Stop the Deregulation of TCM Press Conference on Friday March 4, 2022
Dear Sir / Madam,
On February 28, 2022, the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario (CTCMPAO, “College”) notified its professional members and stakeholders of the provincial government’s decision to dissolve the College and wind down its operations per Schedule 5, Bill 88 the Traditional Chinese Medicine Repeal Act, 2022. This decision was made without consultation with key stakeholders and experts.
On Friday March 4, 2022 the Coalition to Stop the Repeal of the TCM Act will be holding a press conference to provide details on the impact to practitioners and patients should the legislation be enacted
We hereby formally invite all members of the press as well as interested parties to this conference.
Below are the full event details:
Date: Friday March 4, 2022
Time: 10:00 am (registration starts at 9:30 am)
Venue: Courtyard by Marriott Toronto Northeast/Markham
7095 Woodbine Avenue, Markham Ontario L3R 1A3
Venue Woodbine B
Kindly confirm your attendance with:
The Coalition to Stop the Repeal of the TCM Act
Ontario College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
905-477-8855
markham@octcm.com