The Chatham-Kent Ontario Health Team says a new provincial investment will help expand access to primary care services across Chatham-Kent and connect thousands of residents with a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
The organization announced it will receive $1.59 million through Ontario’s Interprofessional Primary Care Team funding initiative to strengthen team-based primary care and connect 3,288 residents to ongoing care. The official funding announcement was made by Trevor Jones, MPP Chatham-Kent-Leamington.
According to the organization, 21,959 Chatham-Kent residents currently do not have a regular family physician or nurse practitioner, representing 16.6 per cent of the local population.
The funding will support expanded capacity within existing Family Health Teams and Community Health Centres in Chatham-Kent, allowing more residents access to routine checkups, preventive screenings and chronic disease management.
The care model will include interdisciplinary teams made up of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, respiratory therapists, social workers and dietitians.
“Comprehensive longitudinal primary care is the foundation of the health system. This funding represents a significant investment in primary care in our community,” said Dr. Briana Yee-Providence, physician co-chair of the organization’s Primary Care Network and a practicing family physician in Chatham-Kent.
“This investment is helping transform access to comprehensive primary care in our community by connecting more patients to family physicians and interdisciplinary care teams focused on improving long-term health and well-being. We are strengthening chronic disease management, prevention, and early intervention while building trusted, ongoing relationships between patients and their primary care providers. This work reflects our shared commitment to ensuring every resident has access to coordinated, compassionate care close to home.”
The organization said improved access to primary care is expected to reduce avoidable emergency department visits for non-urgent health concerns, helping ease pressure on hospitals while improving patient outcomes.
The funding announcement is part of a broader provincial initiative aimed at expanding primary care teams across Ontario by 2029, with the goal of ensuring every resident has access to a family doctor or nurse practitioner working within a team-based model.
The Chatham-Kent Ontario Health Team said this marks the third consecutive year the community has received provincial funding to expand primary care access, bringing the total investment since 2024 to $3.965 million.
The organization also said it will continue working with local health and community partners over the next three years to further improve access to primary care. Part of that strategy includes the use of BridgeCare, a clinic focused on unattached patients, to help identify individuals with complex needs and connect them with long-term primary care providers.
Residents without a family doctor or nurse practitioner can register through Ontario’s Health Care Connect program online at Ontario Health Care Connect or by calling 1-888-579-6707 weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
