Ontario Connecting Over 300,000 People to Primary Care Teams

$110 million investment brings the province one step closer to connecting everyone in Ontario to primary care

BROCKVILLE — The Ontario government is investing $110 million to connect up to 328,000 people to primary care teams, bringing the province one step closer to connecting everyone in Ontario to primary care.

In Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, funding will allow the Upper Canada Family Health Team to connect up to 6,600 people to primary care. Programs and services include comprehensive primary care, mental health services, chronic disease management and prevention, and care coordination. The locations are designed to be accessible to unattached and marginalized patients seeking care. The Upper Canada Family Health Team and Brockville General Hospital will work with many community partners including Public Health, other Family Health Teams, EMS, the City of Brockville, and local pharmacies to expand primary care.

“I want to thank the people of Mallorytown and the entire riding for their support of the need to expand primary care,” said Steve Clark, MPP for Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes. “I look forward to working with the Upper Canada Family Health Team and community partners to serve this significant amount of unattached patients.”

“Our community expects high-quality primary health care,” said Sherri Hudson, Executive Director with the Upper Canada Family Health Team. “This is investment will assist the Upper Canada Family Health Team to continue to play a vital role in the community’s health and well-being.”

Ontario currently leads the country with 90 percent of people connected to a regular health care provider. As a next step to close the gap for the 1.3 million people not connected to primary care, the government is making a record investment of $90 million to add over 400 new primary care providers as part of 78 new and expanded interprofessional primary care teams. In addition to other historic investments to expand medical school spots and efforts to break down barriers so highly skilled internationally-trained doctors can care for people in Ontario, Ministry of Health modelling shows that these initiatives will help connect up to 98 percent of people in Ontario to primary care in the next several years.

“Our government is making record investments to ensure that everyone that wants to have a primary care provider can connect to one,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “While there is more work to do, giving hundreds of thousands of more Ontarians the opportunity to connect to primary care brings us that much closer to this goal.”

Interprofessional primary care teams connect people to a range of health professionals who work together under one roof, including doctors, nurse practitioners, registered and practical nurses,
physiotherapists, social workers and dietitians, among others. Timely access to primary care helps people stay healthier for longer with faster diagnosis and treatment, as well as more consistent support managing their day-to-day health while relieving pressures on emergency departments and walk-in clinics.

An additional $20 million will provide a boost to all existing interprofessional primary care teams to help them meet increased operational costs for their facilities and supplies so that they continue to provide high-quality care to the people they provide care to.

Since the launch of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care one year ago, the government has been making steady progress to ensure the healthcare system has become better
equipped to respond to the needs of patients and provide them with the right care in the right place, faster access to services and access to an expanded healthcare workforce.

 Quick Facts:

• Today’s investment triples the original $30 million dollars earmarked to expand interprofessional primary care teams and will deliver over four times as many initiatives as outlined in our Your Health Plan almost a year ago.
• The new and expanded teams will include Family Health Teams, Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics, Community Health Centres and Indigenous Primary Health Care Organizations
• Ontario is the first province to have a publicly funded Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic program.
• This is in addition to the new Practice Ready Ontario Program that will add 50 new physicians this year.
• The new and expanded teams are the result of a province-wide call for proposals that took place in 2023. All proposals were thoroughly reviewed by Ontario Health based on criteria prioritizing areas of greatest need, to connect a greater number of people currently without a regular primary care provider with these services closer to home.
• Ontario leads the country in how many people benefit from a long-term, stable relationship with a family doctor or primary care provider. Since 2018 the province has added over 80,000 new nurses and 10,300 new physicians to the health care system.
• Ontario invests over $1 billion in interprofessional primary care teams annually.