The Ontario government is providing $1.1 million dollars in additional funding to help connect more patients to primary care across West Parry Sound.
According to local officials, the funding has been allocated to the West Parry Sound Health Centre Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic to expand local capacity and enable to attachment of more than 2,000 patients to comprehensive team-based primary care.
“This funding will allow us to add an additional nurse practitioner to our team, as well as new interprofessional team members like dieticians, physiotherapists, and pharmacists,” said Naomi Wachowiak, Manager of Operations for the local nurse practitioner led clinics. “By sharing allied health resources and aligning how we deliver care, we are building a more connected, patient-centred system, one that makes it easier for people to get the care they need, closer to home.”
Wachowiak emphasized that the additional funding will allow the West Parry Sound Health Centre Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic, in partnership with the Parry Sound Family Health Team, to eventually ensure that every resident in West Parry Sound has access to primary health care.
Under the proposed model, the $1.1 million will be used to implement an interdisciplinary team capable of working across multiple locations. This service will enable patients to access a wide range of services closer to home, including care from nurse practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, physiotherapists, dieticians, pharmacists, and other allied heath professionals.
Residents without a family doctor are encourage to register on the Health Care Connect waitlist, as those on the list will be the first who are connected with primary care once the expansion is complete.
