Stiles calls out Ford’s Minister of Health for forcing Ontarians to pay for primary care

QUEEN’S PARK — Today in Question Period, Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles called on Doug Ford’s Minister of Health to answer for her failures after Ontario missed the federal deadline to fund nurse practitioners, leaving patients paying out of pocket for basic care:

“As of yesterday, Ontario is out of compliance with the Canada Health Act, and what does this government have to show for it? No plan. No timeline. No action,” said Stiles. “They are choosing to make people pay for primary care.

"This ignorant government refuses to fund the nurse practitioners in primary care that serve so many Ontarians, including rural and northern communities. Now, people are being forced to pull out their credit cards just to get primary care. How much longer are people supposed to pay out of pocket for something that should be publicly covered?

“In other provinces, patients can see a nurse practitioner for primary care without paying out of pocket,” said Stiles. “Only in Ontario do we have seniors lining up in emergency rooms just to fill prescriptions because they don’t have access to primary care.”

“2.5 million people in this province don’t have a family doctor,” Stiles said. “This government keeps talking about record connections through Health Care Connect, but if that’s true, how do millions of people still not have a doctor?”

“Nurse practitioners are ready to deliver the care people need, but they need this government to actually fund their services,” Stiles said. “Right now there is no plan, no timeline, and no action. Patients are footing the bill and that is this Minister's failure.”