Stratford Today published an article on July 9, 2024
By Trevor Wilhelm
The provincial government says it is spending $2.4 million to launch mobile healthcare services and expand existing clinic teams in Windsor-Essex in a plan to provide more access to primary care providers.
The province said the effort will connect almost 9,000 people in Essex County who need it to primary care teams.
“Our government is making record investments to ensure everyone who wants to have a primary care provider can connect to one,” said Deputy Premier and Health Minister Sylvia Jones. “While there is more work to do, giving thousands of more Ontarians in the region the opportunity to connect to primary care brings us that much closer to this goal.” The local funding is part of the $110 million the government is spending across Ontario to give more people access to primary care by adding hundreds of new service providers and expanding existing teams.
In Windsor-Essex, some of the funding will go toward supporting new mobile services. The initiative will connect “vulnerable and high needs” people in Windsor’s inner city and surrounding area to primary care, mental health services, preventative care, chronic disease management, and health promotion.
The funding will also expand two existing interprofessional primary care teams at a nurse practitioner-led clinic.
Interprofessional teams include a range of health professionals, such as doctors, nurse practitioners, registered and practical nurses, physiotherapists, social workers and dietitians, who work together under one roof.
Expansion of the existing teams will help about 1,200 additional people, including agricultural workers and seniors, get access to primary care services and urgent care faster and easier, the province said.