Ontario Boosting Access to Primary Care for People Across the Province

Ministry of Health and Long Term Care

Province Expanding and Enhancing Interprofessional Health Care Teams

Toronto, ON – May 10, 2017

As part of the 2017 Budget, Ontario is helping more people across the province access teams of health care professionals, to ensure patients can receive comprehensive and personalized health care where they need it.

John Fraser, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health, on behalf of Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, was at the Women’s Health in Women’s Hands Community Health Centre in Toronto today to highlight Ontario’s new investments in interprofessional care.

These health care teams bring together a diverse group of health care professionals to help meet the individual and often complex needs of patients. These teams can include doctors, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, physician assistants, dietitians, pharmacists, mental health workers, social workers, psychologists, physiotherapists, chiropractors and other professionals.

There are currently 294 interprofessional care teams across Ontario that are delivering care to more than four million people. Ontario is investing $248.4 million over the next three years to:
•Support existing teams, including recruiting new staff and retaining current health care workers
•Create new care teams across the province so that every region in Ontario has at least one team

Interprofessional care teams deliver primary care to help patients with their specific health care goals and needs, ranging from managing chronic disease, to addressing complex health needs, to helping a patient deal with a life challenge that is negatively impacting their health. These teams also empower patients and their families to be active participants in working toward their health care goals.