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In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ontario Ministry of Health (MOH) issued a directive to extend funding for all medically necessary hospital care to residents without health insurance. Members of the Health Network for Uninsured Clients (HNUC) have observed significant improvements to healthcare access for uninsured clients since the MOH directive has been in place.
To capture the directive’s impacts, the HNUC surveyed members who work directly with uninsured clients and interviewed key informants with several years of experience working with uninsured clients. Eighteen healthcare professionals responded to the survey, and six key informants participated in interviews, including a midwife, a nurse, a hospital-based physician, two client care coordinators at community health centres, and the coordinator of a primary care clinic for uninsured clients. This report highlights their observations and stories about how the directive has changed access to healthcare and its impacts on the wellbeing of people without health insurance.