Ontario announces $1.1 million in additional funding for WPSHC NPLC
Member of Provincial Parliament Graydon Smith, left, with West Parry Sound Health Centre Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic Manager of Operations Naomi Wachowiak, right.
On 17 Apr, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Graydon Smith held a press conference at Cottage Country Family Team to announce new funding packages for local Primary Care teams, including the West Parry Sound Health Centre (WPSHC) Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics (NPLC).
Health care executives and leaders from the Parry Sound–Muskoka region gathered at the Cottage Country Family Health Team offices to announce a new phase of Ontario’s Primary Care Action Plan.
This new phase is accompanied by an investment of $4,513,000 and is aimed at attaching more than 10,000 people in the region to interdisciplinary primary care teams. Approximately $1.1 million of the $4.5 million has been allocated to WPSHC NPLC, as the lead agency of a collaborative partnership with Parry Sound Family Health Team (PSFHT). This funding will help expand local capacity and interdisciplinary care teams, enabling the attachment of more than 2,000 patients while improving access 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 dietitians, physiotherapists, and pharmacists,” said Naomi Wachowiak, Manager of Operations for WPSHC NPLC. “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 went on to emphasise that the additional funding will allow WPSHC NPLC, in partnership with PSFHT, to ensure that every resident in West Parry Sound has access to a primary care team. It is estimated that this additional funding will help connect approximately 2,000 residents of West Parry Sound to a primary care team.
WPSHC also recognises and thanks local care organisations in West Parry Sound for their support, leadership, and partnership in creating and submitting a single, unified proposal for this funding to Ontario Health. This includes the West Parry Sound Ontario Health Team, Rugged Shores Family Health, Medical Associates, and the Parry Sound Family Health Team.
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, dietitians, pharmacists, and other allied health professionals.
Graydon Smith, MPP for Parry Sound–Muskoka, remarked, “This funding will help our family health teams and Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics create more spaces for patients, recruit more doctors and nurse practitioners, and connect more residents to primary care.”
Funding from the $4.5 million was also allocated to the Cottage Country Family Health Team, Algonquin Family Health Team, North Muskoka Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, and Wasauksing First Nation Health Department. Representatives from each of these organisations were also present at the announcement.
We are proud to stand alongside our partners in the West Parry Sound Ontario Health Team, Rugged Shores Family Health, Medical Associates, Parry Sound Family Health Team, the Ministry of Health, Ontario Health, and the provincial government. It is our privilege to serve the communities of West Parry Sound, and this investment represents an opportunity for us to improve the care we provide. We remain committed to providing the highest quality of comprehensive primary health care and are humbled to be part of this important initiative.
