Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae was in Clifford on the morning of February 7 to make a major funding announcement.
Rae said that, following Health Minister Sylvia Jones' announcement last week that Ontario would be providing $110 million to connect up to 328,000 people to a primary care provider, he was excited to share some of that funding with the Mapleton-Minto Family Health Team.
"Today I had the pleasure of announcing on behalf of Minister Jones, $568,628 in additional funding to expand primary care access in the Minto area. It'll help nearly 1,600 residents access primary care. The family health team plans to hire two new nurse practitioners, a registered practical nurse, and a receptionist to meet the growing need for primary care locally," Rae said.
Rae says the funding is part of a long overdue expansion.
"Today's announcement and Minister Jones' announcement last week around this funding, this is the first time we're expanding primary care teams in the province of Ontario since their inception in 2005. So, it's really promising that our provincial government is taking action where others unfortunately have failed to do so," added Rae.
A media release from Rae claims that "Ontario leads the country with 90 per cent of people connected to a regular health care provider. To close the gap, the government is making record investments of $90 million to add over 400 brand new primary care providers within 78 new and expanded inter-professional primary care teams."
In regards to ongoing healthcare staffing struggles in the region, Rae says this funding is part of addressing that issue and improving primary care access to many who didn't have it before.
"During her announcement, Minister Jones committed to working towards ensuring that anyone who wants to access primary care in the province of Ontario would be able to do so in the coming years. I know I meet with our local family health teams often and I'll continue to advocate for them at that level provincially to ensure they have the resources they need to hire staff and support the many residents across Perth-Wellington," said Rae.
Many local emergency departments continue to face ER closures and staffing shortages. Rae says they have seen a "sharp increase" in rural residents having to visit ERs for non-emergency needs, like filling prescriptions. Rae claims this funding announcement, and others like it across Ontario, will help ease some of the pressures on local emergency departments.
"By providing primary care in the community, which is obviously a Family Health Team's role, in this expansion locally, it will ensure that in Minto, up to 1,600 residents won't have to visit our rural ERs for non-emergency needs. So that will relieve some of the pressure that our nurses and doctors in the ERs are facing right now," Rae shared.
The official release from Rae's office on the funding in Clifford also noted that "In addition to expanding medical school spots and making it easier for internationally trained doctors to provide care, Ministry of Health modelling shows this will help connect up to 98 per cent of Ontarians to primary care in the next several years."
“On behalf of the Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team, we are very excited about our government’s new investment in primary care for our area,” said Shirley Borges, Executive Director for Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team. “I am confident that the addition of two Nurse Practitioners, Registered Practical Nurse and Receptionist will be fully welcomed and supported by our Team. Working to full scope of practice, these newly funded positions will provide primary care to an additional 1400-1600 patients who are in need of a primary care provider. These patients will also be connected to our Family Health Team and have access to a wide range of team-based services and programs. We are pleased that our strong advocacy and support from our community and municipal partners, Minto residents, and MPP Matthew Rae have resulted in successful funding of our proposal.”
