Western faculty unions call on school to do more to alleviate London’s doctor shortage [Video]

Faculty unions at Western University and its affiliated colleges are continuing to push back on the school’s decision to restrict access to its employee and family health clinic, saying it should be expanding access, not exacerbating London’s doctor shortage.

Earlier this year, CBC News reported the university was bumping patients from the clinic’s roster who weren’t full-time main campus employees, citing limited treatment capacity and a growing waitlist.

Full-time faculty at Huron and King’s university colleges, part-time and contract Western employees, and full-time Western employees with fixed-term contracts can no longer use the clinic as of mid-August, along with full-time employees who retired after February 2025.

The new rules also limit eligibility to full-time main campus employees and immediate family who don’t have a family doctor within 30 kilometres of London.

The faculty unions claim those impacted weren’t consulted about the change, and say Western hasn’t “adequately considered the role it can play in working towards …