As part of the Ontario government’s Primary Care Action Plan, it introduced the Primary Care Act on May 7 in an attempt to establish a province-wide framework that will inform Ontarians on what they can expect regarding access to primary care in the province.
“Ontario’s doctors are encouraged by this announcement and look forward to working with [the] government to ensure that every Ontarian has access to a family doctor,” said Kimberly Moran, CEO of the Ontario Medical Association.
“We will do everything we can to accelerate this goal by collaborating with Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones, and the lead of the Primary Care Action Team, Dr. Jane Philpott. It’s a long road ahead but this is a positive step forward to protecting Ontario’s valued health care system.”
The announcement also garnered a response from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario.
“RNAO welcomes this important step toward ensuring that every Ontarian is connected to a most responsible provider – a nurse practitioner or a family physician,” said Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario.
“Since the release of our first Enhancing Community Care for Ontarians report in 2012, RNAO has consistently called for primary care to be positioned as the foundation of Ontario’s health system. It is now essential that these new initiatives be formally linked with nursing education across the province – including both baccalaureate nursing and nurse practitioner programs – as a critical measure to advance team-based care and nursing leadership in an Ontario that leads the country.”
Alongside the announcement is a $300 million investment to expand teaching clinics and provide access to a family doctor and primary care team Moreover, this investment is planned to “build up to 17 new and expanded community-based primary care teaching clinics in communities with high rates of unattachment to primary care,” according to the government.
“In partnership with McMaster University, NOSM University, Queens University, Toronto Metropolitan University, University of Ottawa, University of Toronto, and Western University, the clinics will train family doctors and other health care professionals such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants and registered nurses,” reads the release.
“The clinics combine direct patient care with hands-on learning for primary care learners, allowing approximately 300,000 additional Ontarians to be connected to primary care.”
According to the Ontario government, The Primary Care Act, 2025, lays out the framework for Ontario’s publicly funded primary care system with six primary objectives, which it said will ensure the public “know what they can expect when connecting to primary care.” according to the release, those objectives are:
- Province-wide: Every personacross the provinceshould have the opportunity to have ongoing access to a primary care clinician or team.
- Connected: Every person should have the opportunity to receive primary care that is coordinated with existing health and social services.
- Convenient: Every person should have access to timely primary care.
- Inclusive: Every person should have the opportunity to receive primary care that is free from barriers and free from discrimination.
- Empowered: Every person should have the opportunity to access their personal health information through a digitally integrated system that connects patients and clinicians in the circle of care.
- Responsive: The primary care system should respond to the needs of the communities it serves and everyone should have access to information about how the system is performing and adapting.”
More details about where exactly these teaching clinics will be located are scheduled for announcement this summer.
