October 31, 2022
Allow Nurse Practitioners to Offer More Solutions
This morning during question period MPP France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) asked Health Minister Sylvia Jones why the Ford government continues to ignore the solutions Nurse Practitioners (NP) have to offer.
“Minister, the Nurse Practitioners Association is at Queen’s Park today, they have a very simple ask; lift the cap on the number of Nurse Practitioner Led Clinics (NPLC). The 25 NPLC across the province are all success stories. Every one of them provide access to top quality interdisciplinary primary care to over a hundred thousand Ontarians who used to go to one of our overcrowded emergency departments for care.
Minister, will you lift the cap on the number of Nurse Practitioner Led Clinic so unattached patients in community across Ontario, including Coniston in my riding, can gain access to primary care.’’ Gélinas asked.
According to the Globe and Mail, nearly 1.8 million patients in the country’s most populous province did not have a regular primary-care provider as of March 2020 and another 1.7 million Ontarians had a family doctor who was nearing retirement age.
“Another step the Minister can take to help the over 1.3 million Ontarians who do not have a family physician and who need access to primary care, by simply adding more Nurse Practitioner positions to the existing clinics. It is a very cost effective and immediate step the government can take. These nurse practitioners will help patients, help the health care system, and save money. It is a win-win-win solution.
Every NPLC has a wait list. In Capreol where the NPLC is the only health care service available, there are thousands of people who need access to primary care and there are NPs available to fill these roles; but they have no funding to hire them. Their funding proposals sit unanswered.
Minister why are those affordable, effective, and immediate solutions being ignored?”
Nurse Practitioners are registered nurses with advanced university education who provide a full range of health care services to individuals, families, and communities. Regulated by the College of Nurses of Ontario, NPs must meet rigorous requirements to maintain ongoing registration.