NEWS BRIEFS
Half of Ontario doctors and specialists who run their
own clinics have laid off staff and nearly the same
number think they will have to close their clinics
completely if the province doesn't change how it
compensates them during the COVID-19 pandemic,
citing a dearth of in-person medical visits and
exams — the basis of the fee-for-service system by
which the province pays them. Of the 4,800 family
doctors who responded to the Ontario Medical
Association's Practice Impact Survey:
• 49.7% have had to lay off staff
• 52.6% expect to lay off staff in the near future
• 48.7% will have to close their clinic without
changes in funding
• 9.2% of those closing anticipate closing
permanently
"There are virtually no patients these days as
non-essential treatments have stopped during the
COVID-19 epidemic," says Sohail Gandhi, president
of the Ontario Medical Association. "This means
no OHIP billings, no money coming in, and these
overheads don't get paid. Many clinics and testing
facilities had already been running on tight budgets
after years of cutbacks by previous governments.
They may unfortunately go bankrupt and have
to close their doors forever, as is happening to
countless other types of small businesses across
Ontario."
Email (80 per cent) and Microsoft Teams (70 per cent) are the primary communications tools being used by remote workers
in Canada, according to a survey of 120 employer branding leaders and talent acquisition directors in Canada, the U.S. and Latin
America. When it comes to employee engagement, the top initiatives are:
Ontario doctors
feel the pinch
Tips and advice help with engagement amid pandemic
Revenues plummet across the country
Source: Universum
Nearly one-third of Canadian
businesses saw their revenues drop
at least 40% in the first quarter
of 2020 compared to the same
quarter last year, Statistics Canada's
Canadian Survey on Business
Conditions — an online survey of
more than 12,600 businesses in
April — has revealed. Of the survey
respondents:
• 85% sharing tips and advice
• 74% virtual team activities
• 70% internal campaigns and communication initiatives
• 65% more flexible hours and ways of working
• 65% mental health support
• 57% a site for COVID-19 messaging
• 54% daily team meetings
• 52% sharing pictures
• 72.3% have been negatively affected by social distancing measures
• 64.8% reported being highly affected by lower demand for their products or services
• 62.3% said that they could re-open or return to normal operations less than one
month after social distancing measures are removed
• 48.5% reported being highly affected by the need to cancel services they offered
• 45.4% added new ways to interact with or sell to customers
• 38.1% increased the use of virtual connections internally
• 21.2% reported their revenues had decreased by 20% to 40%
14 www.hrreporter.com
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