Southlake Academic Family Health Team gets Provincial boost to connect with more Aurora patients

More Aurora patients will be able to connect with primary care following a Provincial investment of nearly $850,000 in the Southlake Academic Family Health Care Team.

The Southlake Academic Family Health Care team is based out of Aurora, Newmarket, Bradford and Mount Albert, and the $848,500 from Ontario's $2.1 Billion Primary Care Action Plan will be Aurora-centric.

“I'm thrilled to see the opening of this new primary care clinic,” said Newmarket-Aurora MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy in a statement following last Wednesday's announcement. “This investment will connect thousands of residents to the care they need, close to home. By expanding access to family doctors, nurse practitioners, and interprofessional health providers, we're ensuring that people get the care they need, when they need it.”

The Southlake Academic Family Health Team and the Northern York South Simcoe Ontario Health Team (NYSS OHT) will use these funds to open up a new primary care clinic at the end of September.

Funding for the new clinic was granted after a call for proposals identified areas with the highest number of residents not already connected to primary care. These numbers included those who were on the Health Care Connect Wait List.

Patients are now able to book appointments at the new clinic over the phone.

“Access to timely, high-quality primary care is essential to keeping people and communities healthy,” said Dr. David Makary, a physician with the Southlake Academic Family Health Team, Co-Chair of the NYSS OHT and Vice President, Academics and Community Health at Southlake Health. “Thanks to the government's support, we're proud to open a new primary care clinic that will connect more people in Aurora to the care they need, close to home. Together, we're building healthier, stronger communities where everyone can access primary care.” 

As the Primary Care Action Plan continues to roll out, the Province says 300 new primary care teams will be added across the Province and will entail $235 million in 2025-2026 alone that will support 130 “new and expanded” primary care teams in Ontario.

In 2024, Ontario invested $110 million in primary care teams across the province, helping to connect 328,000 more people to primary care close to home.

“We are continuing to build on our government's record investments, which have helped secure Ontario the highest rate of access to a regular health-care provider in the country,” said Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones in a statement. “We are protecting Ontario's health-care system and people's access to convenient care by funding new and expanded primary care teams across the province, helping connect everyone in Ontario to a primary care provider.” 

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter