Province provides $1.4M for primary care
By Pam Wright
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Rural residents currently living without primary health care in Chatham-Kent may be in luck.
That’s thanks to nearly $1.4 million in provincial funding received by the Chatham-Kent Ontario Health Team (CKOHT). The money will be used to support the expansion of team-based primary care in order to connect 3,000 people to a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
Currently between 25,000 to 30,000 C-K residents do not have primary care and are forced to go a clinic or the emergency room if problems arise.
According to CKOHT executive transformation lead Melissa Sharpe-Harrigan, residents living in an area with a postal code beginning with NOP will be prioritized as the program rolls out.
“The province has really specified that this funding really be targeted towards rural patients,” she said. “The reason for that is there is a higher unattachment rate than other areas in the province.
“We’re excited to think about health equity and access to family physicians across our small towns in Chatham-Kent,” Sharpe-Harrigan said, adding it will help fill a gap in care.
“Giving somebody access to primary care really helps them take control of their health,” she said, adding it boosts preventative health care. “This is a great start, but we definitely have a lot more work to do.”
Sharpe-Harrigan said the money will facilitate hiring support staff as part of a “team-based” approach that will allow physicians and nurse practitioners to roster more patients.
The funding will be distributed to four primary care sites within the municipality, as wells as the Rapids Family Health Team north of Wallaceburg.
“This funding is a much-needed boost for our community,” said family physician Dr. Andrew Su, CKOHT physician co-chair. “It means thousands of residents will now have access to a trusted primary care provider who knows them, understands their health history, and can guide them through their health journey.”
Chatham-Kent–Leamington MPP Trevor Jones, who made the announcement at the Thamesview Family Health Team on behalf of the Ford government, said he was “proud to share” another step towards strengthening local health care.
“Primary health care is the front door for our health system,” Jones said. “This ensures patients get the right care, at the right time with the right provider.”
Jones said he knows there’s much more work to be done, adding he will “stand beside” the residents of Chatham-Kent.
The Interprofessional Primary Care Team initiative is part of $213 million in provincial funding to create or expand up to 80 primary care teams across Ontario. Officials say it is part of a broader strategy to invest more than $1.8 billion in primary care in order to connect an additional two million Ontario residents to publicly funded primary care services within four years.
The government said Ontario is hoping to ensure all residents have access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner by 2029.
