Funding aimed at helping Langs Community Health Centre expand staff

Langs Community Health Centre will get $1.9 million from the province "to connect more people to primary care teams in Cambridge and North Dumfries Township," says a press release.

The investment will see Langs expand staffing at its two locations and serve an additional 5,462 residents.

“This is excellent news for the people of Cambridge and North Dumfries Township who are in need of a health-care provider,” said Cambridge MPP Brian Riddell in the release.

“The teams at Langs Community Health Centre have been providing excellent care to patients in our community for many years and this funding ensures more local residents can receive health care where and when they need it.”

The local funding is part of what the province says is its "$110 million investment to connect up to 328,000 people to primary care teams, bringing the province one step closer to connecting everyone in Ontario to primary care."

In the release, Debbie Hollahan, chief executive officer at Langs Community Health Centre, said: “We are very excited to receive this funding from the Ministry of Health, which will allow us to further enhance the delivery of health-care services in our communities. This investment will support our efforts to build stronger, more integrated primary care teams and improve access to timely and co-ordinated care for our patients."

Primary care teams connect people to a range of health professionals who work together under one roof, including doctors, nurse practitioners, registered and practical nurses, physiotherapists, social workers and dietitians, among others.

“Our government is making record investments to ensure that everyone that wants to have a primary care provider can connect to one,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “While there is more work to do, giving hundreds of thousands of more Ontarians the opportunity to connect to primary care brings us that much closer to this goal.”

In addition to other historic investments to expand medical school spots and efforts to break down barriers so highly-skilled internationally-trained doctors can care for people in Ontario, Ministry of Health modelling shows that these initiatives will help connect up to 98 per cent of people in Ontario to primary care in the next several years.