As soon as we were notified by Group Health Centre that they were going to be separating themselves from some of their patients, we energized, we motivated and we got the member from Sault Ste. Marie, who has been working non-stop on this issue—he’s actually issuing some very good news for Mike and others in the community today. We are increasing our investments in Sault Ste. Marie.

We’ve been able to do this because we have set aside and invested in primary care and multidisciplinary teams across Ontario: 78 in total, two in Sault Ste. Marie and more good news coming today from the member from Sault Ste. Marie.

Are we going to take the first proposal that comes forward? No. We’re going to assess. We’re going to review and look at them, and make sure that they are patient-focused. The announcement that the member from Sault Ste. Marie is making today is exactly that.

I want to remind the members of the investments that our government has made under the leadership of Premier Ford. In February, we announced expansions and 78 new primary care multi-disciplinary teams.

What’s happened since February, Speaker? Couchiching Ontario Health Team is already taking on new patients. The Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle is already taking on new patients. Unison Health and Community Services in Toronto is already taking on new patients. And it goes on and on. In Kingston, in Minto-Mapleton, in Lambton, we are making progress.

We see, for two years in a row, a historic registering of both nurses and physicians in the province of Ontario. Why? Because people want to live here, they want to work here and they want to practise medicine here.

But I think that the most important thing that we are doing is actually building our health care services through the students, through the young people. A new school for medicine in Brampton will be taking students on in September 2025. In York region, a brand new medical school will actually focus on family medicine.

We are doing the work. There is more work to do, but we’re getting the job done.