MPP Rickford Announces New and Annual Funding for Kenora Chiefs Advisory to Support Interprofessional Primary Care Team

KENORA — The Ontario government is investing over $3.6 million in the Kenora Chiefs Advisory (KCA) to ensure primary care is accessible to residents of Kenora-Rainy River. 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 includes:

Over $2.9 million in annual funding for Kenora Chiefs Advisory to continue providing proactive, coordinated care, and strengthening primary care capacity; and
Over $710,000 in funding for a new Interprofessional Primary Care Team for Kenora Chiefs Advisory that will help connect people to a range of health professionals that work together.

“Our government recognizes the tailored and targeted investments that are required to ensure all community members have access to top quality primary care – when and where they need it,” said Greg Rickford, Member of Provincial Parliament for Kenora-Rainy River. “The new specialized funding for an Interprofessional Primary Care Team at Kenora Chiefs Advisory means residents have access to holistic, coordinated care from a range of health professionals, all under one roof.”

“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.”

Ontario currently leads the country with 90 percent of people connected to a regular health care provider. As a next step to close the gap for First Nations people not connected to primary care in the community, the province is supporting Kenora Chiefs Advisory with funding that will support a new interprofessional primary care team.

“We are very grateful and excited to be here today for the announcement of this major investment into health care services on reserve,” said Chief Lorraine Cobiness, Board President of Ogimaawabiitong on behalf of the Board of Directors. “This is a service that has been so needed for such a long time and to see all the hard work of our people coming to fruition is a wonderful thing. This investment into primary care is going to make sure our elders, our youth, and our people will be able to get medical guidance and help from the comfort of their home community and close to family and support.”

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.

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.

QUICK FACTS:

As a next step to close the gap for the 1.3 million people not connected to primary care in the province, the government is making a record investment of $90 million to add over 400 new primary care providers as part of 78 new and expanded interprofessional primary care teams. The new and expanded teams will include Family Health Teams, Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics, Community Health Centres and Indigenous Primary Health Care Organizations.
Ontario’s investment of $90 million dollars triples the original $30 million dollars earmarked to expand interprofessional primary care teams and will deliver over four times as many initiatives as outlined in our Your Health Plan almost a year ago.
The new and expanded teams are the result of a province-wide call for proposals that took place in 2023. All proposals were thoroughly reviewed by Ontario Health based on criteria prioritising areas of greatest need, to connect a greater number of people currently without a regular primary care provider with these services closer to home.
Ontario is the first province to have a publicly funded Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic program. This is in addition to the new Practice Ready Ontario Program that will add 50 new physicians this year.
Ontario leads the country in how many people benefit from a long-term, stable relationship with a family doctor or primary care provider. Since 2018 the province has added over 80,000 new nurses and 10,300 new physicians to the health care system.
Ontario invests over $1 billion in interprofessional primary care teams annually.

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