Ma question est pour la ministre de la Santé.

The nurse practitioners’ association is at Queen’s Park today. They have a very simple ask to the government: Lift the cap on the number of nurse practitioner-led clinics. The 25 existing nurse practitioner-led clinics are all success stories. Everywhere in Ontario, they provide access to top-quality, interdisciplinary primary care to over 100,000 Ontarians who used to go to our overcrowded emergency rooms for care.

Will the minister lift the cap on the number of nurse practitioner-led clinics so unattached patients in communities across Ontario, including in Coniston in my riding, can gain access to primary care?

In Capreol, the nurse practitioner-led clinic is the only show in town. They have thousands of people who want access to primary care. They have nurse practitioners who are available to fill those roles, but the nurse practitioner clinic in Capreol has no funding to hire them. Their request for funding continues to go unanswered.

Minister, why is this affordable, effective, immediate solution to our health care crisis being ignored? Why don’t you fund more nurse practitioners in the existing clinics?