Fighting Poverty with a Doctor's Prescription

Dr. Roland Wong who has been dubbed a ‘modern Robin Hood’ for helping patients on social assistance access additional money for food — is under investigation by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, which alleges he acted in a “disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional” way while operating a clinic that provided special diet allowances. Wong has filled out more special diet forms — which give patients suffering from certain maladies extra money to buy healthy food which resulted in the maximum monthly special diet allowance of $250.

Dr. Wong sees the link between poverty and poor health in his clinic everyday, and is outraged that he’s being punished for trying to solve his patients’ problems. “I’m angry because I’m not able to serve my patients. I’m angry because I have to come to this college to listen to things which should be obvious to the College of Physicians and Surgeons: that it’s important that poverty be recognized.” Dr. Wong, who has a practice in the heart of Chinatown, argues he was not abusing the provincial food-aid program, but merely fulfilling his obligation to his poorest patients. He has called himself a “scapegoat” for the province in its push to scale back the rising costs of the special diet allowance program.

Dr. Tomislav Svoboda, a specialist in family and community medicine with St. Michael’s Hospital, wrote in an expert’s review of the case discussed at a hearing Tuesday that Wong “should be commended,” in so far as he “assisted thousands of the poorest members of our community.”

Valerie Tarasuk, a professor of nutrition at the University of Toronto has extensively researched food insecurity — the inability to obtain adequate food due to financial constraints. She said in 2007-2008, 57 per cent of Ontario households that relied upon social housing experienced some form of food insecurity, compared to 7 per cent of households whose income was derived from salaries. Her research has shown that social assistance does not provide sufficient income to meet nutritional needs, Tarasuk said — and that many families receiving social assistance do not have enough money for healthy foods like milk, fruits and vegetables. “This started as a hearing about whether or not he made appropriate decisions as a physician,” Tarasuk said outside court. “But I think it’s very important to look at the context in which (Wong) made those decisions, and I think that’s what I did today.”

Dr. Wong provided an “important service” for the city’s neediest residents, Jackie Esmonde lawyer for the Income Security Advocacy Centre contended.

Philip Berger, a physician at St. Michaels Hospital maintained that the fee scheduling anomalies that allowed Wong to profit from writing the forms are no different than other existing fee anomalies in the medical profession and are not necessarily lucrative in comparison.