Ford government celebrates milestones while Ontarians still can’t find a family doctor

QUEEN’S PARK — As the Ford government marks one year of its Primary Care Action Plan with self-congratulations and new targets, Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles and Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Addictions with responsibility for Primary Care Dr. Robin Lennox say the government’s announcements do not match the reality that many are facing across the province.

Stiles says the government is long on press releases but short on results, as Ontarians continue to face undeniable challenges.

“Ontarians are being told this plan is working, but folks are still waiting hours in emergency rooms and hundreds of thousands of families still don’t have a family doctor,” said Stiles. “If Health Care Connect is supposedly fixed, the government should act like it and actually tell people how to access care.”

Stiles also questioned the government’s ability to actually meet its targets.

“The government can announce targets all it wants, but those targets don’t match the reality on the ground,” said Stiles. “Half of Ontario’s municipalities still don’t have family doctors taking new patients. The real work is creating new primary care teams in communities that have none, and that work isn’t happening at the scale required. Health care workers are burning out, while this government acts like the crisis is over.”

Dr. Lennox said the government is overstating progress while ignoring the scope of the problem.

“The Health Care Connect waitlist represents only about 11% of people who need primary care – it's the tip of the iceberg. Focusing on that alone is not ambitious enough,” said Lennox. “Being attached on paper does not mean people can get timely appointments or access care close to home, and without that, outcomes will not improve.”

Lennox also warned the government is failing to address the workforce crisis needed to make team-based care work.

“We all agree team-based care is the right model, but there is no physician recruitment or retention plan, and nurses in community care are still paid less than their hospital counterparts,” said Lennox. “When half of family doctors are considering leaving practice in the next five years, these teams will not succeed unless the government acts now to make family medicine sustainable”

After decades of neglect by Liberal and Conservative governments, people need real action. That means funding that actually flows to communities, a province-wide recruitment strategy, and honesty about how serious this crisis still is.