JASON SETNYK
The Great River Ontario Health Team is encouraging residents across Cornwall, SDG Counties, Akwesasne, Russell Township, and parts of rural southeast Ottawa to register with Health Care Connect, a provincial service designed to help people find a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
Health Care Connect is part of Ontario’s broader effort to improve access to primary care. The Ontario Primary Care Action Plan aims to connect two million more people to a publicly funded family physician, nurse practitioner, or primary care team by 2029. Carilyne Hébert, Engagement and Navigation Lead with the Great River Ontario Health Team, said the need for primary care providers remains significant across the region. “What I’ve come to realize is how critical having access to primary care is for overall health,” Hébert said. “In our community — Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Akwesasne and Russell Township — we have somewhere between 22,000 and 27,000 people who do not have access to primary care. That means either a family doctor or a nurse practitioner.”
Hébert said the lack of primary care providers has consequences not only for individual health, but also for the broader health-care system. “A lot of people will delay care because they don’t have a family doctor,” she said. “They may avoid seeking help, or they end up sitting in an emergency department for hours because they need something like a referral or even a doctor’s note.” She noted that emergency departments often become the only option for residents without a regular provider, contributing to longer wait times and increased pressure on hospitals. The shortage can also affect workplaces, Hébert added. “We’re hearing from local employers that it’s impacting productivity,” she said. “If someone needs a doctor’s note and doesn’t have a family doctor, it’s not a quick one-hour visit. It can mean spending the entire day at an emergency department just to get documentation.”
The Great River Ontario Health Team says registering with Health Care Connect is a critical first step toward addressing the issue locally. “There is a provincial wait-list for a doctor or nurse practitioner called Health Care Connect,” Hébert explained. “We do have a few thousand of our unattached residents who are on that list, but not the more than 20,000 who currently do not have primary care.”
She emphasized that residents must register themselves in order to be matched with a provider. “Unless we know you’re without a doctor, we can’t reach out and connect you to care,” Hébert said.
According to the Government of Ontario’s Primary Care Action Plan progress update, approximately 1.98 million Ontarians did not have a family doctor or nurse practitioner as of June 2025. With Ontario’s population now around 16 million, that represents roughly 12 to 13 per cent of residents. Other organizations estimate the number could be even higher. The Ontario Medical Association has reported that more than 2.5 million people currently lack access to a family physician, while the Ontario College of Family Physicians has warned the number could grow to 4.4 million by 2026 if current trends continue.
To address the issue, the province committed approximately $2.1 billion toward expanding access to primary care. The plan includes creating or expanding up to 300 team-based clinics where doctors work alongside other health professionals such as nurses, social workers, and dietitians. It also includes expanding medical school and residency spaces, modernizing Health Care Connect, and setting a target wait time of less than 12 months for being matched with a provider.
Hébert said outreach is a key part of the solution, especially for vulnerable residents. “There’s a high number of vulnerable people who do not have access to primary care,” she said. “We’re often talking about lower-income individuals, people who are precariously housed, youth, and new Canadians.” To help address this gap, the Great River Ontario Health Team has been visiting community events, food banks and soup kitchens to help residents register. Residents without a family doctor or nurse practitioner can register online at ontario.ca/healthcareconnect, call 1-800-445-1822, or contact Health811 by dialing 811 for assistance.
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