Northeastern Manitoulin Family Health Team receives funding to expand

LITTLE CURRENT—The Northeastern Manitoulin Family Health Team (NEMFHT) has received funding to expand its team in partnership with the Boreal Family Medicine Clinic in Sudbury. Once the final agreement has been signed, the details on the services that will provide benefits for both Manitoulin Island and Boreal will be shared.

“The funding has just been announced, and once the agreement is signed, we will be able to announce the services that we will be sharing with Boreal Family Medicine Clinic, that will benefit both Manitoulin and Boreal,” said Judy Miller, executive director of NEMFHT. “We will benefit with shared services once the agreement is officially signed.”

Ms. Miller stated, “We are receiving funding of $842,300 to hire staff and place them in the Boreal Medicine Clinic. Our expected target from the Ministry of Health (MOH) is to attach 2,152 patients living in Sudbury to the Boreal Family Medical Clinic.”

On August 18, Sylvia Jones, deputy premier and minister of health, announced at the 2026 Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference that the Ontario government is connecting 600,000 more people to a family doctor or primary care provider by launching the next call for proposals in September 2026, to create or expand approximately 78 primary care teams. This new $250 million investment is part of the government’s $3.4 billion Primary Care Action Plan and brings the province one step closer to connecting everyone in Ontario to primary care by 2029.

“As we work to connect every person in Ontario to a family doctor or primary care team by 2029, we’re making historic investment to bring more care directly into communities across the province,” said Minister Jones, deputy premier and minister of health. “This next call for proposal will connect 600,000 more people to family doctors and primary care teams, keep families healthier and relieve pressure on emergency departments.”

The government established the Primary Care Action Team, led by Jane Philpott, on December 1, 2024, with a mandate to connect every Ontarian to primary care by 2029.

Ms. Miller explained, “Unattached patients are encouraged to enroll in Health Care Connect (HCC) if they don’t have a doctor, and once they do, they are attached to a family doctor or nurse practitioner, then taken off the HCC list.” She also noted with this provided funding, “and in the proposal we noted if we were provided with money for staffing, we can reach 2,500 patients who are unconnected.”

Dr. Anne MacDonald, chairperson of the NEMFHT board explained, “the reason why NEMFHT is involved is because our Ontario Health Team, called SEMEL, is made up of primary care partners located in Sudbury, Manitoulin, Espanola, Elliot Lake, and was endorsing proposals from established family health teams for expansion.”

“Therefore, the only way Boreal Family Medicine Clinic in Sudbury can get access to Family Health Team funding/resources is through our existing family health team,” said Dr. MacDonald. “Two of the physicians of the Boreal Family Medicine Clinic, Dr. Sam Peters, their lead physician, and Dr. Maysoon Alhiali, had previously spent time during their training with our physician team, so the connection was already there. This ongoing relationship may mean that patients that move to/or from Sudbury and Manitoulin will be able to be transitioned more seamlessly between family doctors.”

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