Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - Media Section - Health Update - Doctors and Nurses

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Primary Care Reform In Ontario

Ontario has become a national leader in primary care reform with the introduction of Family Health Networks, the expansion of nurse practitioners, and the strengthened role of Community Health Centres and Health Service Organizations.

Family Health Networks

Ontario is the first province to move beyond the pilot stage of primary care reform to offer a new way of delivering primary care with the introduction of Family Health Networks (FHNs).

Groups of physicians work together in FHNs, along with a nurse-staffed, after-hours telephone advisory service, to provide primary care services to their patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The networks emphasize illness prevention and comprehensive care for patients while promoting a stronger doctor-patient relationship.

Hundreds of thousands of Ontarians have the opportunity to join a FHN as the number of physicians getting together to form these FHN increases.

The Ontario government has committed more than $250 million to make FHNs the mainstream model of primary care delivery.

There are also 14 primary care pilot projects that have more than 175 physicians and 175,000 patients participating.

Nurse Practitioners

Recognizing the potential of nurse practitioners (NPs) to help meet the demand of a growing and aging population for primary care services, the Ontario government has implemented a variety of initiatives, including :

adding up to 369 new NPs in underserviced areas over the next three years;
upgrading 87 equivalent nursing positions to NPs and creating 34 new NP positions in community-based settings;
introducing legislation to establish the NPs' scope of practice; and
funding the NP education program.

Community Health Centres

Community Health Centres (CHCs) play an important role in expanding access to comprehensive primary care, health promotion and co-ordination and delivery of community-based programs. CHCs are critical to ensure that primary care services are accessible for those who face access barriers due to language, culture, physical disabilities, poverty or geographic isolation.

About 300,000 Ontarians currently benefit from health services they receive at the 55 CHCs in the province. CHCs offer a range of primary care services focused on illness prevention and health promotion that :

take a comprehensive approach to health needs involving physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers and nutritionists to name a few; and
involve communities in planning programs and assessing service needs.

Health Service Organizations

Health Service Organizations (HSOs) have been a vital component of Ontario's healthcare system since the early 1970s, pioneering concepts of comprehensive care to enrolled populations. Ontario remains committed to HSOs and the patients they serve and is working to ensure alignment with the goals and objectives of primary care reform.

There are 62 HSOs with over 160 family physicians providing comprehensive primary care to 165,000 patients across the province.