Ontario’s health minister said Wednesday she is “disappointed” the federal government has left provinces and territories on their own to set rules for publicly funding nurse practitioners instead of creating a consistent, national standard.
Ottawa has clarified that nurse practitioner services equivalent to what physicians provide are covered by the Canada Health Act’s requirement that medically necessary services are publicly funded, and gave provinces until April 1 to do so.
Despite Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones pushing the federal government years ago for that clarification, the province won’t have a system in place by then for ensuring nurse practitioners are publicly funded.