Caledon residents without a family doctor or primary care provider are among those targeted by a provincial investment of more than $2,835,900 this year, intended to connect up to 7,022 people across Dufferin–Caledon with care.
The Orangeville Citizen reported that the funding will support a local expansion through the Dufferin Area Family Health Team, in partnership with the local Ontario Health Team. The 7,022-person target applies to Dufferin–Caledon as a whole.
The investment is part of Ontario’s Primary Care Action Plan. The provincial government says the plan is on track to give everyone in Ontario access to a publicly funded family doctor or primary care provider by 2029.
Dufferin–Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones, who is also deputy premier and minister of health, said the local funding is intended to improve access for families and help residents receive care closer to home.
Expansion includes services and patient matching
The Dufferin Area Family Health Team currently supports patients of primary care providers in Dufferin County and a group in Bolton. It has been designated to hold the local expansion funding, awarded through the latest call for proposals under the provincial plan.
Executive director Lianne Barbour said the allocation will support an immediate expansion of the team’s programs and services, development of a local hub and additional Care Days clinical offerings.
It will also support a dedicated team focused on connecting patients with primary care providers and working with those providers, according to Barbour.
Barbour described the funding as an initial step toward broader access to team-based primary care across the Hills of Headwaters Collaborative Ontario Health Team. She said the organization and its partners would explore further opportunities to expand their partnerships.
Part of a provincewide effort
Across Ontario, 124 teams receiving funding are expected to connect another 500,000 patients with primary care. Each team has developed a plan to reach a substantial share of people in its community who do not have a provider, including those on the Health Care Connect waiting list.
Jones said Ontario has already exceeded its patient-attachment target for 2025–26. The Dufferin–Caledon allocation is intended to build on that work through the local family health team and Ontario Health Team partnership.
