We need your help! Please take a few moments to read this. Taking action (see below) is extremely easy and takes just minutes.
Over the last several years the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care has been working with our profession to have Naturopathic doctors fully regulated under the Regulated Healthcare Practitioners Act. That’s the same Act that regulates health care professionals ranging from MD’s and RN’s to dentists and optometrists.
It has been a long and bumpy road and we are getting close. However, your ability to access lab testing through your naturopathic doctor is currently in jeopardy.
Why This Is So Important
One of the most important tenets of Naturopathic Medicine is informed consent. We believe that patients have the right to make their own educated health care choices. This legislation threatens that. Here’s why:
1. Your right to choose your provider is limited. Lab tests you currently have access to through your naturopathic doctor will be limited in the new regulations. Tests for things like hormone levels, environmental toxins, specialized genetic testing or cancer markers may be completely unavailable to you through your ND. You should get to choose who provides your care.
2. Your right to frequency and test choice is limited. Your family doctor, and OHIP, may not want to test in the same way, or with the same frequency as you do. You should have the right to measure your own health care indicators whenever you choose and however you choose.
As an independent health care consumer, you should have complete control over what you pay for, and how you consume fee-for-service health care.
How You Can Help, Quickly and Easily
You can make a difference by doing one of the following 3 steps:
1. Sign this letter (Word or PDF) and email it to [email protected] and cc [email protected]
2. Come into the clinic and sign the letter and Dr. Tara will take it with her when she meets with Jim Wilson MPP, on May 21st, 2015.
3. Meet with your MPP Jim Wilson yourself and let him know how important being able to access Naturopathic Medicine is to you. Educate him on how you use ND services and how by doing so you take a burden off the health care system. You can book an appointment with him by calling 705-446-1090, or emailing [email protected]
Please tell all your family and friends who value the right to choose how they care for their health to do the same.
Let’s make sure you can continue to access the care you want, when you want, and how you want!
Links to Letter:
