Ontario Connecting More People to Primary Care in Huron-Bruce
September 22, 2025
$3,010,700 in local Huron-Bruce investment brings the province closer to connecting everyone in Ontario to primary care by 2029.
In attendance for the announcement were: Ralph Ganter (CEO of Grand Bend Area Community Health Centre), Dr. Kelly Fenn (Co-Chair of Grey Bruce Ontario Health Team and Primary Care Network Chair), Dr. Gary Gurbin (Kincardine Family Health Team Physician), Lisa Thompson (MPP Huron-Bruce), Pam Rantz (Executive Director of Kincardine Family Health Team), Dr. Debbie Dyke (Clinical Lead at Grey Bruce Ontario Health Team), Ken Craig (Mayor for the Municipality of Kincardine), Lindsay Johnston (Executive Director of Grey Bruce Ontario Health Team), and Don Murray (Deputy Warden of Bruce County – Mayor for the Township of Huron-Kinloss)
HURON-BRUCE — As part of its $2.1 billion Primary Care Action Plan to connect everyone in Ontario to a publicly funded family doctor or primary care team, the Ontario Government is investing a total of $3,010,700 this year to connect up to 6,850 people to primary care in Huron-Bruce. This investment is part of the government’s Primary Care Action Plan that will help connect 300,000 people to primary care this year.
Lead Organizations in Huron-Bruce will receive the following funding allocations:
| Lead Organization | Funding Allocation |
| Brockton and Area Family Health Team | $1,143,200 |
| Grand Bend Area Community Health Centre | $858,000 |
| Kincardine Family Health Team | $1,009,500 |
“Access to primary care is essential for the health and well-being of our communities here in Huron-Bruce,” said Lisa Thompson, MPP for Huron-Bruce. “I’m pleased to see these three primary care teams receiving funding through Ontario’s Primary Care Action Plan, as this investment will help strengthen local health care by ensuring more residents have timely access to the care they need, close to home.”
These primary care teams were funded through a call for proposals that focused on communities—identified by postal code—with the highest number of residents not connected to primary care, including those on the Health Care Connect waitlist. In collaboration with regional Ontario Health Teams (OHTs) and Primary Care Networks (PCNs), each successful lead organization has established a plan to attach a high proportion of unattached people in their postal codes and work with neighbouring Family Health Teams to achieve significant progress.
This investment is part of the more than $2.1 billion the Ontario government is investing to support the Primary Care Action Plan that will add over 300 new primary care teams across the province. This includes $235 million in 2025-26 that in part is supporting over 130 new and expanded primary care teams across the province.
“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 Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “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.”
Through Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government continues to take bold and decisive action to grow the province’s highly skilled health care workforce and ensure people and their families have access to high-quality care closer to home for generations to come.
STATEMENT
“On behalf of the Grey Bruce Ontario Health Team and Primary Care Network, I’d like to sincerely thank Lisa and her team for being here today to announce this provincial investment that will connect over 4000 residents of Grey Bruce to Primary Care over the next year. I would also like to acknowledge the significant effort by local primary care providers, primary care administrative leaders, and community health partners that went into the development of the two Grey Bruce proposals that were submitted in May, and the subsequent implementation plans that were recently approved. Development and submission of proposals and plans was facilitated by the Grey Bruce Ontario Health Team, a collaborative of local health care leaders, and the Grey Bruce Primary Care Network, a cohesive group of local physicians and nurse practitioners who provide guidance and direction for primary care in the region. Through this funding, eight organizations will receive funding to expand access and attachment to primary care in Kincardine, Brockton, Meaford, Thornbury, Flesherton, Saugeen Shores, Listowel/Wingham, and the North and South Bruce Peninsula. Additionally, we look forward to continuing to support the provincial Primary Care Action Plan, and to strengthening our local health care system by ensuring Grey Bruce residents have timely access to the care they need close to home.”
- Dr. Kelly Fenn, Grey Bruce Ontario Health Team Co-Chair and Primary Care Network Chair
QUICK FACTS
- Interprofessional primary care teams connect people to a range of health professionals that work together under one roof, including registered and registered practical nurses, physiotherapists, social workers, and pharmacists, helping patients to receive more connected and convenient care.
- Eligible teams not selected for funding in this round will be encouraged to refine and resubmit their proposals for the next call for proposals, as of today: September 22, 2025.
- Ontario’s Primary Care Action Team, led by Dr. Jane Philpott, will implement its action plan supported by the government’s historic investment of more than $2.1 billion to connect approximately two million more people to a family physician or primary care team by 2029, which will achieve the government’s goal of connecting everyone in the province to primary care.
- The Ontario Government recently passed the Primary Care Act, 2025., which establishes primary care as the foundation of Ontario’s health-care system and sets out six clear objectives for Ontario’s publicly funded primary care system to ensure people know what they can expect when connecting to primary care.