Doug Ford must do more to boost primary care access

January 13, 2025

QUEEN'S PARK — Ontario Greens Leader Mike Schreiner released the following statement in response to the federal government’s confirmation that under a new interpretation of the Canada Health Act, nurse-practitioners and other primary care providers will be able to bill under OHIP for medically necessary services.

“Nurse-practitioners are a critical part of our healthcare system, and I’m glad to see that they will soon be able to provide more publicly funded, accessible primary care to the millions of Ontarians who need it.

 We need all hands on deck to ensure every single person in our province has access to a primary healthcare provider. In a province where 2.5 million people don’t have a family doctor, this is going to be a massive undertaking – and Doug Ford needs to do his part.

Now that the loophole is closing on for-profit healthcare clinics, the Premier needs to show Ontarians a robust recruitment and retention strategy developed in consultation with the primary care providers who work hard every day to care for us.

The Premier also needs to address the major gaps in Ontario’s healthcare funding. Once again, Greens call on the Ford government to stop selling off our public healthcare system and bring per capita funding up to the national average. It’s time to put people before profits.”

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