The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Tom Osborne, Minister of Health and Community Services:

 Speaker, I’m excited to rise in this Honourable House to highlight the successes of family care teams throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

Family care teams are a collaborative environment where various health care professionals, including physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, and other allied health professionals work together in the delivery of primary health care.

To date, family care teams have been announced for 19 locations throughout the province, including Port aux Basques, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, and Burin.

Just this month new teams in Clarenville and Grand Falls-Windsor have begun accepting patients

As a result of our efforts, the number of people who have been rostered to family care teams has risen from approximately 28,000 people in March to more than 49,000 as of September.

Access to good medical care is a key social determinant of health that guides our efforts. With every new team that is established, we are taking the right steps to increase access to primary care.

I encourage any resident without current access to primary care to visit the Patient Connect website to be assigned to a family care team when one is available in their area.

Speaker, family care teams are welcomed by health care professionals, which is helping with recruitment, and have been well received by the public.

We look forward to reaching our goal of 35 family care teams, to connect more Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to primary care.