On May 7, Ontario’s Minister of Health, The Hon. Sylvia Jones, tabled Bill 13 – An Act respecting primary care, which passed first reading, and announced an investment of $300 million to expand teaching clinics and connect 300,00 more people to primary care. Bill 13 outlines the government’s commitments on how primary care is to be delivered in Ontario, allowing Ontarians to know what to expect when accessing primary care. If passed, this legislation will make Ontario the first Canadian jurisdiction to establish a framework for its publicly funded primary care system.
Bill 13 recognizes primary care as the foundation of Ontario’s publicly funded health care system, acknowledges the benefits of robust primary care on health outcomes and access, and recognizes that team-based primary care can increase system capacity and improve health outcomes for patients while also enhancing the satisfaction of team members. This proposed legislation reaffirms its commitment to satisfying the core tenets of the Canada Health Act and commits the province to improve access to publicly funded primary care services in a way that respects the dignity and human rights of Ontario’s diverse communities.
The bill commits the province to uphold the following objectives for the design, implementation, and maintenance of the publicly funded primary care system in Ontario: Province-wide, Connected, Convenient, Inclusive, Empowered, and Responsive.
● Province-wide: Every person across the province should 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.
NPAO is committed to working collaboratively with the Government of Ontario and the Ministry of Health to ensure the complete attachment of all Ontarians to a Nurse Practitioner or other primary care clinician. Minister Jones also announced an investment of $300 million to expand teaching clinics and connect 300,00 more people to primary care. This investment, which brings the total of Ontario’s Primary Care Plan to $2.1 billion, is aimed at building up to 17 new and expanded community-based primary care teaching clinics in communities with high unattachment rates to primary care.
This initiative includes a partnership with seven universities, which will operate clinics to train health care professionals for primary care, including Nurse Practitioners. Further details on the location of the clinics will be announced in the coming months. NPAO applauds the continuous strides taken by the Government of Ontario and the Ministry of Health to bolster primary care attachment to a nurse practitioner or physician across the province. As the voice of Ontario’s Nurse Practitioners, NPAO anticipates the integration of Nurse Practitioners into these clinics, recognizing their clinical and leadership expertise as essential to improving Ontarians’ access to primary care. NPAO supports the development of primary care training clinics that blend both nursing and medical models, and looks forward to the meaningful inclusion of Nurse Practitioners as both preceptors and faculty members to best enable the attachment of Ontarians for primary care and optimize NP recruitment and retention.
https://npao.org/ontario-announces-next-steps-for-primary-care/