Unattached patients will have access to primary health care

The Nurse Practitioners' Association of Ontario (NPAO) applauds the McGuinty government for their announcement today to fund three new Nurse Practitioner (NP) Led Clinics in Belle River, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay.

NPAO is pleased that Minister Caplan has taken this step forward and demonstrated his support for nurse practitioner practice and the valued role they play in improving access to primary health care. Nurse practitioners across the province are eager to work in these new practice settings. The first NP led clinic opened in 2007 in Sudbury and received strong and enthusiastic support from the community.

"There are tens of thousands of unattached patients in the province who do not have access to a primary health care provider. Nurse practitioners have demonstrated that they provide safe, effective, quality health care to patients of all ages," stated NPAO president Tina Hurlock-Chorostecki. Nurse Practitioners are RNs with advanced education and decision-making skills in assessment, diagnosis and health-care management. They can treat illnesses and injuries; write prescriptions, order lab tests, X-rays and other diagnostic tests. They consult and collaborate with physicians and other health care professionals to meet a patient's health care needs. Nurse practitioners help to keep individuals and families healthy and assist patients to understand and manage their illness or disease.

It is likely that these clinics will be developed and their services available to the public in the near future. The NP led primary health care clinics allow nurse practitioners to work to their full potential to provide high-quality comprehensive health care to the people of Ontario. The Nurse Practitioners' Association of Ontario represents the professional interests of all NPs in Ontario. NPAO is an expert group of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario. NPAO's mission is to achieve full integration of Nurse Practitioners to ensure accessible, high quality health care for Ontarians.