Kingsville Times published an article on February 16, 2024
By Anthony Leardi MPP Riding of Essex
The Ontario government is investing $424,525 to connect more people to primary care teams in Windsor-Essex through the Essex County Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic (NPLC). 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 funding will be a major spark that will ignite a major expansion of healthcare in the town of Kingsville. Not only will this help the town of Kingsville, but also, the surrounding areas will see a massive benefit,” said Anthony Leardi, MPP for the riding of Essex. “This is one more way that the Government of Ontario is giving you access to healthcare where and when you need it.”
“The Town of Kingsville is thankful and appreciative of the province’s investment to increase medical services in our community,” said Dennis Rogers, Mayor of Kingsville. “We have taken steps to ensure this funding will benefit our residents right away. It’s a win for Kingsville and a win for 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 the Riding of Essex.
“We are extremely excited to have this opportunity to expand our team-based primary care services further in our community,” said Laura Levesque, Executive Director of the Essex County NPLC.
“Prior to this announcement, we partnered with the Town of Kingsville and the TMC Urgent Care Clinic to provide Primary Care Services to the residents of Kingsville. This funding will allow us to expand our services further and bridge the gap for those in need of primary care. Nurse Practitioners and the Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic model are an important part of the solution in connecting more Ontarians to Primary Care. We work with an entire team of health professionals to address the unique needs of each patient including wellness and disease prevention.”
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.