Ontario is working toward attaching everyone in the province to a primary care provider, but family health teams are warning that as the government has its sights set on that laudable goal, the foundation of primary care is crumbling.
Family health teams include not just doctors, but also a variety of other health professionals to provide comprehensive care, such as nurses, social workers and dietitians. The government funding for those professionals has not kept pace with inflation or with the wages the same professionals earn in other health-care settings, the family health teams say.
Nurse practitioners could make an additional $20,000 or more per year by working in a hospital, and physician assistants could make an extra $30,000, says the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario.