The federal New Democratic Party’s health care plan will add more doctors, establish more primary health care clinics and introduce a pharmacare plan that will cut the cost of prescription drugs by 30%, say candidates in the Oct. 19 federal election.

Sudbury NDP candidate Paul Loewenberg and Nickel Belt NDP candidate Claude Gravelle joined Nickel Belt NDP MPP France Gelinas on Friday morning to talk about their parties’ health care plans in front of the Northeast Cancer Centre.

Gelinas is the provincial NDP critic for Health and Long-Term Care.

As the federal campaign draws near to the end, Loewenberg said he is hearing more and more about voters’ worries about health care.

Voters are talking about long waits for hospital beds and in emergency departments. Some fear the closing of beds at North Bay Regional Health Centre will have an impact on resources in Sudbury.

The NDP wants voters to know "that we have heard them," said Loewenberg, adding his party’s plan will bring "tangible benefits" to Sudbury and Northern Ontario.

Gravelle said $2 billion in cuts to federal transfer payments to the provinces for health care is having an impact across Canada, especially in his riding, which has a larger than average population of seniors.

The vast riding of Nickel Belt takes in Sturgeon Falls, which is deeply affected by hospital bed and other cuts in North Bay, he said.

The NDP health plan will invest money to add 7,000 doctors across Canada and 200 more clinics.

"Our health care plan stands in contrast to that of Justin Trudeau because he supports the $2 billion in Harper health care cuts," said Gravelle. That has led to more health personnel layoffs and bed closures.

The NDP plan will invest in home care services for 41,000 more people and help the provinces build 5,000 more nursing home beds, said Gravelle.

Close to Gravelle’s heart is adopting a national dementia strategy. He tried to get his private member’s bill calling for such a strategy passed in the last session of Parliament. It lost by one vote. NDP Leader Tom Mulcair is promising to develop that strategy if his party is elected. Gravelle’s mother suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.

Gelinas pointed to a recent report by Health Quality Ontario, which shows Sudbury has a higher rate of people seeking care at hospital emergency departments than from their primary care practitioners. That’s partly because, if they have a doctor or nurse practitioner, they may not be able to see them for a day or two, so they seek care at hospital instead.

Patients with mental health issues, who should have them addressed in the community, are also turning up at hospital emergencies, said Gelinas.

The NDP health plan has a "strong and robust" mental health program that will help prevent admissions and readmission of people suffering from a mental illness, she said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cuts, coupled with Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne’s privatization of health care, have led to more 350 layoffs at North Bay’s hospital alone, said Gelinas.

"People in the North still cannot get access to care when they need it. Every one of us knows someone who has spent countless hours at emergency. This has got to stop," she said.

"I’m proud of the federal NDP plan to work with provinces and provide long term, stable funding for our healthcare."

The NDP’s federal health care plan will create a youth mental health innovation fund to reduce wait times and improve access to care; triple the paid leave available for Canadians who are too ill to work; support caregivers by expanding the compassionate care benefit so people can take up to six months paid leave to care for seriously ill loved ones.

carol.mulligan@sunmedia.ca