Jane Philpott to lead primary care action team

TORONTO – At a time when 2.5 million Ontarians are without a family doctor, the provincial government has appointed Dr. Jane Philpott (pictured) to serve as chair and lead a new primary care action team with a mandate to connect every person in Ontario to primary healthcare within the next five years.

In July, the Ontario College of Family Physicians reported the number of Ontarians without a GP has reached 2.5 million, up from 1.8 million in 2020. More than 160,000 people were added to the list of those without a family doctor in a six-month period alone.

Dr. Philpott explained that “Ontario can build a health system where the guarantee of access to a primary care team is as automatic as the assurance that every child will be assigned to a public school in their neighbourhood. Our goal will be for 100 percent of Ontarians to be attached to a family doctor or nurse practitioner working in a publicly funded team, where they receive ongoing, comprehensive care and people can access that care in a timely way.”

Starting December 1, 2024, in her new role, Dr. Philpott will oversee this action-oriented group supported by the Ministry of Health that will enable the connection of every Ontarian with primary care services within the next five years.

Drawing on the best-in-class Periwinkle model designed by Dr. Philpott and colleagues in the Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Ontario Health Team with input from other primary healthcare leaders across the province, she will provide and implement an action plan ensuring the Minister of Health can further expand team-based primary health care across the province.

This plan will include ensuring more convenient access to existing teams with better service on weekends and after-hours, reducing the significant administrative burden on family doctors and other primary care professionals and improving connections to specialists and digital tools.

Dr. Philpott currently serves as the dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Queen’s University and director of its School of Medicine. She previously held a number of senior roles in the Government of Canada, including minister of Health, minister of Indigenous Services and president of the Treasury Board, and spent more than 30 years in family medicine and global health. Dr. Philpott was previously appointed as a special advisor to the Ontario government to support the design and implementation of the Ontario Health Data Platform.