Ontario Investing Over $1.9 Million For Primary Health Care Teams in Windsor-Essex

Apr 22, 2024

April 18th , 2024

Windsor— The Ontario government is investing $1,979,761 to connect more people to primary care
teams in Windsor-Essex through the Canadian Mental Health Association – Windsor-Essex County
Branch. This is part of Ontario’s $110 million investment 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.

“This investment by the Ontario government under the leadership of Premier Ford and Minister
Jones, will significantly grow our primary care capacity in Windsor-Essex and serve nearly 8000
additional residents in our community,” said Andrew Dowie, Member of Provincial Parliament for
Windsor–Tecumseh.

“This funding will expand primary care access with investments in human health resources and
extend the outreach for the Mobile Medical Support (MMS) team,” said Nicole Sbrocca, CEO of the
Canadian Mental Health Association – Windsor-Essex County Branch. “The MMS is a mobile
healthcare clinic that has successfully provided episodic primary care, preventative care, and
wraparound services to a variety of vulnerable, high risk, underserved populations across Windsor-
Essex County.”

Ontario currently leads the country with 90 per cent of people connected to a regular health care
provider. As a next step to close the gap for people not connected to primary care in the
community, the province is supporting the expansion of interprofessional primary care teams in
Windsor-Essex.

Interprofessional primary care teams connect people to a range of health professionals that 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.

“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.”

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 per cent of people in
Ontario to primary care in the next several years.

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 health care 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 health care workforce.

Quick Facts:
· As a next step to close the gap for the 1.3 million people not connected to primary care in
the province, 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.
The new and expanded teams will include Family Health Teams, Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics,
Community Health Centres and Indigenous Primary Health Care Organizations.
· Ontario’s investment of $90 million dollars 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 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 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.
· 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.

Further Quotes:
“The Canadian Mental Health Associa[on – Windsor-Essex County Branch (CMHA-WECB) is
delighted by this community funding announcement that will expand the services of our Health
Centre along with several community partners, to connect more people to primary care in our
community,” said Nicole Sbrocca, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Associa[on – Windsor-Essex
County Branch.

“We look forward to collabora[ng with our community partners in the development and
implementa[on of this community funding to enhance and expand programs and services to create
more access and improve health outcomes across Windsor-Essex County.”

Additional Resources:
● Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care
● Ontario Connecting Over 300,000 People to Primary Care Teams
● Your Health, Your Results

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MEDIA CONTACT
Mike Lesperance
Special Assistant,
Andrew Dowie, MPP, Windsor-Tecumseh
Ph: 519-251-5199 Cell: 226-724-6978
Email: [email protected]