OTTAWA — Just days before the writ is supposed to drop on a provincial election, the PC government has unveiled nearly $2 billion in funding to increase Ontarians’ access to primary care.
In a late-morning announcement, Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced that $1.8 billion will be spent on a program to help two million Ontarians find a family doctor by 2029 — a number that includes $400 million in previously announced funding and $1.4 billion in new money.
“Through our government’s record investments in primary care, we have been able to achieve the highest rate of access to regular health-care providers in the country,” Jones said in a press release.
“With this historic, transformative investment, we can now achieve our goal of connecting every person in the province who wants a primary care provider.”
The new funding comes via the province’s Primary Care Action Plan, led by Jane Philpott — a physician and former Liberal MP who was tasked with leading the team in October.
“Together we will build a primary care system that is comprehensive, convenient, and connected for every single person in Ontario,” Philpott said in the release.
“In every community, your primary care team will be your front door to care, where you have a team of clinicians providing care you can access in a timely way, close to home.”
The program aims to fill Ontario’s physician-patient gap by the end of the decade, with plans to creating more opportunities for Ontarians to find a family doctor, increasing tools available to doctors’ offices to streamline red tape and administrative burden and unveil new strategies to train, recruit and retain new family physicians.
According to the Ontario Medical Association, more than 2.3 million Ontarians are without a family doctor, with realities even harsher in the province’s north.
In Toronto, more than half a million residents are without a family doctor, according to the Ontario College of Family Physicians.