The Ontario Primary Care Council (OPCC) is a partnership of seven provincial associations that represent primary care providers in this province. The founding members are:
- Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO)
- Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO)
- Association of Ontario Health Centres (AOHC)
- Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario (NPAO)
- Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP)
- Ontario Medical Association (OMA)
- Ontario Pharmacists Association (OPA) and the
A growing unity of purpose within the Council provides government and other stakeholders with an unprecedented opportunity to gather expert advice on how to strengthen primary care. For the first time ever primary care associations are developing common positions on how primary care can be strengthened.
OPCC’s Goal
Primary care must serve as the strong foundation of the health system
To improve population health, deliver people-centred services and strengthen our publicly funded health system, Ontario must create a stronger foundation for the delivery of primary care in this province.
This principle is based on a large volume of evidence which demonstrates investment in primary care is associated with improved system quality, equity and efficiency.
Ontario Primary Care Council’s Framework for Primary Care
This document provides an overarching framework as to how the Council envisions the delivery of primary health care evolving and improving in the province of Ontario. It sets out major directions for change – changes that will significantly alter the status quo of primary care delivery in Ontario, but changes which can be phased in using an evolutionary approach over a five to ten year time period. As evolution of primary care in Ontario continues, Council members will work in an aspirational way with provincial decision makers to ensure Ontario implements the enablers and moves closer to the goals identified in the document.
OPCC Position Statement on Care Co-ordination in Primary Care
The Ontario Primary Care Council asserts the role of primary care providers to lead care co-ordination. Primary care providers work to ensure access to interprofessional care for patients and identify a single point of contact to help patients and families navigate and access programs and services. The OPCC believes care co-ordination requires recognition, dedicated funding and leadership support through training and education.
OPCC’s Initial Response to Minister’s Patients First Proposal
The Council recommends that the Ministry of Health and Long-Term set out clear principles for planning aligned with OPCC’s Framework for Primary Care in Ontario, develop a plan to embed care coordinators in primary care, address the role of primary care in mental health and palliative care, and ensure a consistent primary health care population needs-based planning approach across all fourteen LHINs. This letter was submitted on January 22, 2016, in response to the Minister’s Patients First proposal, released December 17, 2015.
