Strengthening Primary Care in Northern, Rural and Remote Communities

Program overview :

People who live in these communities often prefer care closer to home, avoiding medical transport and transfers, but they tend to have poorer access to primary care compared to their urban-dwelling counterparts. Healthcare providers also experience unique opportunities and challenges, including broader scopes of practice, travel and helping patients and families navigate remote services and medical travel.

In the midst of these circumstances, northern, rural and remote communities and the people who live, work and play in them are demonstrating incredible commitment and resourcefulness, building on community strengths to respond to health needs.

Strengthening Primary Care brought together teams of primary care providers, organizations and communities and supported them to advance their unique improvement goals and to share and learn with others. Participants in this program received tailored support to advance a promising practice to improve equitable access to safe, including culturally safe, high-quality team-based primary care closer to home.

This program helped drive adoption and spread of promising practices that are improving access to primary care in Canada to meet unique needs and goals of communities, patients and providers. Examples of possible program impacts include:

• Improved access to team-based primary care
• Improved patient and provider experiences of care
• Safer, including more culturally safe, care
• Reduced avoidable emergency department visits

Organizations and communities invited to participate

HEC invited 20 teams to participate in this program. Learn more about the teams and where they’re located. 

Meet the teams

Learn more

Have questions about this program? Contact strengthening-primarycare@hec-esc.ca to learn more.

Related resources

{{((sortOptions.length > 0 && currentSortOption > -1) ? sortOptions[currentSortOption] : param_sortText)}}

• {{sortOption}}

{{param_topicFilterText}}

• {{param_allText}}
• {{decodeURI(filterType.title).replaceAll('+', ' ').replaceAll('%26', '&')}}

{{param_howFilterText}}

• {{param_allText}}
• {{decodeURI(filterType.title).replaceAll('+', ' ').replaceAll('%26', '&')}}

{{param_resourceTypeFilterText}}

• {{param_allText}}
• {{decodeURI(filterType.title).replaceAll('+', ' ').replaceAll('%26', '&')}}

{{param_noEntriesMessage}}

{{currentEntry.friendlyTitle.length > 0 ? currentEntry.friendlyTitle : currentEntry.title}}

{{param_topicText}}: {{decodeURI(currentEntry.taxonomyList[0]).replaceAll('+', ' ').replaceAll('%26', '&')}}

{{param_publicationDateText}}: {{formatPublicationDate(currentEntry.publicationDate)}}

{{param_linkText}}

{{currentP == null?'...':' ' + (currentP + 1) + ' '}} /

{{((sortOptions.length > 0 && currentSortOption > -1) ? sortOptions[currentSortOption] : param_sortText)}}

{{sortOption}}

{{param_topicFilterText}}

{{param_allText}} {{decodeURI(filterType.title).replaceAll('+', ' ').replaceAll('%26', '&')}}

{{param_howFilterText}}

{{param_allText}} {{decodeURI(filterType.title).replaceAll('+', ' ').replaceAll('%26', '&')}}

{{param_resourceTypeFilterText}}

{{param_allText}} {{decodeURI(filterType.title).replaceAll('+', ' ').replaceAll('%26', '&')}}

{{param_noEntriesMessage}}

{{currentEntry.friendlyTitle.length > 0 ? currentEntry.friendlyTitle : currentEntry.title}}

{{param_topicText}}: {{decodeURI(currentEntry.taxonomyList[0]).replaceAll('+', ' ').replaceAll('%26', '&')}}

{{param_publicationDateText}}: {{formatPublicationDate(currentEntry.publicationDate)}}

{{param_linkText}}

{{currentP == null?'...':' ' + (currentP + 1) + ' '}} /