December 30, 2016

Mr. John Fraser
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
80 Grosvenor Street
11th Floor, Hepburn Block
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2C4

Dear Mr. Fraser:

I am honoured to have you as my parliamentary assistant, and thank you for the valuable support that you will provide me in this crucial role. I welcome you back to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and look forward to continuing to work closely with you to ensure that both ministry and overall government objectives are achieved.

At this mid-point of our mandate — and after having achieved two years of real and tangible progress — we are redoubling our efforts to deliver on our top priority — economic growth and good jobs. Our balanced plan to build Ontario up for everyone will deliver real benefits and more inclusive growth that will help people in their everyday lives. We will do this by continuing to invest in better infrastructure, more affordable and accessible postsecondary education, a competitive, low-carbon economy and improved retirement security.

Responsible fiscal management remains an overarching priority for our government, and, thanks to our disciplined approach, we are on track to balance the budget next year, in 2017-18.

The mandate letter I received in September from Premier Wynne sets out my specific priorities as minister for the coming two years. Parliamentary assistants play a key role in meeting these priorities and in helping put our government’s plan into action.

Together we will deliver results for Ontarians by driving improvement in the health care system. We will continue to focus on implementation of the Patients First Action Plan through delivery of integrated and comprehensive health services across primary and specialist care, home and community care, hospitals, and other health care settings. I will need your help to ensure our health system partners are fully engaged.

As Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, your specific responsibilities include:

  • Continuing your work on palliative and end-of-life care by supporting the roll out of $75 million in new investment through to 2019-20 aimed at improving access to community-based hospice and palliative care and ensuring appropriate training for support for long-term care home staff. Based on the advice you received in your provincial stakeholder engagements, you will work with the ministry to direct investments to increase hospice capacity, strengthen caregiver and family supports, and expand support for home hospice volunteer services. You will align your work with the efforts underway in the home and community care sector to develop training, resources and tools to support caregivers as they undertake this essential role in our health care system.
  • Leading the promotion of community wellness and healthy living for Ontarians. To achieve this, you will support the exploration of opportunities for delivery models in the community, for example, public health units, to improve awareness of, and access to, existing health services and supports for low income families, such as vision screening for children.
  • Engaging health system leaders to explore opportunities for efficiencies by reviewing existing public education resources in order to maximize the impact of their work to further strategic initiatives such as chronic disease prevention.

A tremendous opportunity lies before us — to ensure that our ministry’s mandate is fully and effectively implemented, to continue to build Ontario up and to deliver real benefits to all Ontarians.

Sincerely,

Original signed by

The Honourable Dr. Eric Hoskins
Minister of Health and Long-Term Care