RNAO’s ongoing media profile: Your June 2026 report
RNAO was quoted in several media hits in June about its Indigenous Health Program and a gathering of Indigenous-focused Best Practice Spotlight Organizations (BPSO), a Statistics Canada report on job vacancies in health care and how NP-led clinics increase access to primary care.
RNAO's partnership with Indigenous-focused BPSOs received coverage by two news outlets. The third annual RNAO Indigenous BPSO gathering took place in Thunder Bay on June 10-11 and brought together BPSOs, health partners, community partners and knowledge holders. They shared experiences, strengthened partnerships and promoted culturally safe, community-driven care. Maxine Lesage, a former RNAO board member, member of the symposium’s BPSO planning committee and representative of Maamwesying BPSO Ontario Health Team said that the event was an opportunity to connect with both familiar faces and newer participants (APTN News, June 23). RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun told tbnewswatch.com (June 10) that meeting in-person is crucial. “Some…things you cannot do just online and you cannot just do by giving guidelines and tools. You need to have the lived and living experiences of people that are Indigenous.”
Grinspun was interviewed by OMNI TV (June 17) about recent Statistics Canada data showing an apparent decline in nursing job vacancies in Ontario and across Canada. Grinspun advised that the figures should be interpreted with caution, noting that fewer vacancies do not necessarily mean the nursing shortage has been resolved. "We need to look deeper at the data to determine whether this actually translates into more nurses at the bedside and a stronger nursing workforce," she said.
RNAO Immediate Past-President NP Lhamo Dolkar penned a letter to the editor (Norfolk & Tillsonburg News, June 5) in response to news that the Ontario government was providing permanent funding for an NP-led clinic in Tillsonburg. Dolkar wrote, "As an NP, I know the important role we play in the health system opening access to safe and top-quality care." She called on Health Minister Sylvia Jones to provide more funding for these types of clinics. "Having NPs is an immediate solution; it’s time to bring their expertise to more communities provincewide."
In an op-ed published in the Toronto Star on June 30 (as much of the province was in the grip of an extreme heat warning), RNAO President Sue LeBeau and Grinspun called on provincial and municipal governments to treat extreme heat more seriously because it is posing a threat to people’s health and safety. They highlighted the need for a maximum indoor temperature standard in buildings and care settings so that no one is forced to live in unsafe heat. LeBeau and Grinspun wrote, “Extreme heat is harming Ontarians, filling emergency rooms and costing lives… For many, it’s a public health emergency — and we must start treating it like one.”
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