More than 5,000 Northumberland residents without a family doctor could soon be connected to a primary care provider after a $2.2 million provincial investment announced Monday in Port Hope.
Northumberland-Peterborough South MPP David Piccini made the announcement at the Community Health Centres of Northumberland, saying the funding is part of Ontario’s broader goal of connecting every resident to primary care by 2029.
The investment is expected to help attach 5,182 people to a family doctor, nurse practitioner or other primary care professional, while also expanding access to care for up to 15,000 additional residents through team-based services and community programs.
Piccini says the funding was made possible through collaboration between Community Health Centres of Northumberland, Northumberland Family Health Team and the Ontario Health Team of Northumberland.
Ram Puva, executive lead for the Ontario Health Team of Northumberland, says the announcement goes beyond simply adding more doctors.
He says expanded interprofessional teams could include registered nurses, registered practical nurses and nurse practitioners, along with enhanced programs like diabetes care and CHCN’s GAIN program.
At CHCN, executive director Chiara Campitelli-Thompson says the funding will help address growing needs in underserved communities like Colborne.
She says the expansion could include primary care, midwifery, geriatric assessment, counselling, gender-affirming care and food-access programs.
Local health leaders say implementation planning is already underway, with each organization now determining how best to use its share of the funding to improve access across the county.
(Written by: Joseph Goden)
