Rae Announces New Funding to Support Primary Care Expansion in the Town of Minto

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 7, 2024

[Clifford, ON] — Today, Matthew Rae, MPP for Perth-Wellington announced that the Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team will receive $568,628 to add two Nurse Practitioners, a Registered Practical Nurse, and a receptionist allowing them to provide care to an additional 1400-1600 residents. This is part of a larger province wide investment of $110 million to connect up to 328,000 people to a primary care provider.

“This is wonderful news for the residents of Minto,” Rae said. “This investment is the first major expansion in Ontario of interprofessional primary care teams since their inception in 2005.”

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 interprofessional primary care teams.

An additional $20 million will provide a boost to all existing interprofessional primary care teams, helping meet increased operational costs for their facilities and supplies so that they may continue providing high-quality care.

“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.”

“I want to congratulate the Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team on their successful application,” Rae added. “Our government is investing in rural healthcare to ensure residents receive care closer to home. There is more work to be done, and I look forward to continuing to work with our local Family Health Teams to ensure that everyone who wants to have a primary care provider can access one.”

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.

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.

Quotes:

“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.”

- Shirley Borges, Executive Director, Minto Mapleton Family Health Team

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Matthew Rae, MPP | 519-272-0660 |  www.matthewrae.ca