‘At the end of the day we don’t have enough primary care physicians’: Funding announced for primary care teams in the region

Provincial funding was announced Friday aimed at expanding access to primary care physicians in the region. CTV’s Bryan Bicknell explains.

There is encouraging news for families across Elgin and Middlesex-London who don’t have a family doctor or access to primary care.

Elgin Middlesex London MPP Rob Flack has announced provincial funding for primary health teams across the Thames Valley network.

“Forty-thousand people have come to London and surrounding communities since the pandemic, and we’re growing,” said Flack.

Speaking in St. Thomas Friday to health care officials, Flack announced nearly $15 million in funding to bolster primary health care teams in the region.

“To make it easier for patients and families to connect to care closer to home,” Flack stated.

The funding means more than 33,000 patients will have access to primary health teams, including family doctors and nurse practitioners, said Mike McMahon, CEO of Thames Valley Family Health Team.

“And this is an exciting announcement as well because it comes with resources to surround our providers with team-based care. So that’s your dieticians, occupational therapists, nurses, and all the professionals, who as a team are looking at the holistic service of folks in the community,” said McMahon.

The announcement comes at a time of critical need across the province. According to the Ontario Medical Association, as of 2025 there were more than 2.5 million people in Ontario without a family doctor.

“At the end of the day we don’t have enough primary care physicians or nurse practitioners in Middlesex London right now to serve the number of people who are waiting,” said Amber Alpaugh-Bishop, executive director of Middlesex London Ontario Health Team.

“The last updated information that we have, and it’s out of date, is about 91,000 people looking to be attached to primary care,” added Alpaugh-Bishop.

The situation is similar in Elgin.

“So, the information that we have available to us is that there are about 8,000 people in our community that do not have a formal connection with a family physician or a nurse practitioner. And our target with this investment is to connect 8,000 people,” said Deanna Hugget, executive director of Elgin Ontario Health Team.

The goal is to get those who need primary care connected within one year.