Ontario's Progressive Conservative government is pledging $1.8 billion to ensure every resident has access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner. The plan, announced by Health Minister Sylvia Jones and former federal health minister Jane Philpott, includes $1.4 billion in new funding over four years. The announcement comes as Premier Doug Ford prepares to call a snap election.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones listens to questions from reporters following a news conference in Etobicoke, Ont., on Jan. 11, 2023.Ontario’s governing Progressive Conservatives are promising to spend $1.8-billion to ensure every patient has a family doctor or nurse practitioner as Premier Doug Ford prepares to send voters to the polls early with a
The plan marks the government’s first major policy announcement since Mr. Ford confirmed on Friday that he plans to set off a snap election this week. The Progressive Conservatives have previously promised to increase access to family doctors, but the problem has gotten worse since Mr. Ford first came to power. The number of Ontarians without a family doctor rose to 2.5 million as of September, 2023, up from 1.
But, like other jurisdictions across the country, Ontario faces an uphill battle against the prevailing trends. Older doctors with large practices are retiring, fewer young doctors are choosing to train as family physicians and fewer of those are willing to work full-time in traditional office-based, cradle-to-grave family practice.
Teams would accept new patients based partly on their where they live in a model known as geographic attachment, Dr. Philpott said. “Ontario is embarking on an historic opportunity to build a primary care system where the guarantee of access to a primary care team is as automatic as a child being assigned to a public school in their community,” she said.
FAMILY DOCTOR HEALTHCARE ELECTION ONTARIO SNAP ELECTION
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