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Strengthening Primary Care in Northern, Rural and Remote Communities

Healthcare Excellence Canada launched the Strengthening Primary Care in Northern, Rural and Remote Communities program (Strengthening Primary Care) to strengthen access to team-based primary care in northern, rural and remote communities.

Two images within a graphic design featuring colorful shapes. The left image shows a healthcare setting where one person is seated on an examination table while another person stands nearby, appearing to provide information or assistance. The right image shows an outdoor view of a street with several buildings, parked cars, and a sign that reads “The Annex.” Teal and dark blue geometric shapes frame the images.
Topics
  • Primary and community care
  • Cultural Safety
  • Health workforce
Audience

  • Community organization

  • Healthcare leader

  • Point of care provider

About Strengthening Primary Care

Strengthening Primary Care brought together 20 teams of primary care providers, organizations and communities from November 2023 to November 2024. They represented several northern, rural and remote communities in 10 provinces and territories across Canada. One of the 20 teams (Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services) advanced five unique promising practices to respond to the needs of people and providers throughout their province.

People in northern, rural and remote communities value care close to home, though access to primary care can be more limited than in urban areas. The program helped teams to build on their local strengths to respond to the needs of their communities.

Recognizing that no two communities are alike, this program offered tailored supports to help participating teams define goals and improvement plans that align with the unique needs, readiness, and available resources of local patients and providers. By leveraging local networks and cultural knowledge, they aimed to make care more accessible, effective and closer to home. Learn more about the teams and the support they received.

An illustrated map of program participants across Canada.

Strengthening Primary Care’s Impacts

The work done by the teams reached over 66,000 patients in their communities. The program helped teams plan, advance and evaluate promising practices that are improving access to primary care to meet the unique needs and goals of their communities, patients and providers.

Teams leveraged virtual and in-person primary care to improve care closer to home and provide more people with permanent family doctors and care teams. Together, they also overcame common challenges related to health workforce, communication and other barriers.

These promising practices are contributing to a future where northern, rural and remote communities benefit from:

  • Improved access to team-based primary care closer to home.

  • Improved patient and provider experiences of care.

  • Safer care, including more culturally safe care.

  • Reduced avoidable emergency departments.

Participating Teams

Healthcare Excellence Canada invited 20 teams to participate in Strengthening Primary Care, a program designed to improve access to safe, including culturally safe, team-based primary care closer to home and meet the unique needs of northern, rural and remote communities.

Participating organizations and communities received:

  • seed funding (up to $50,000 per team)

  • virtual and in-person networking, coaching, and learning events to promote pan-Canadian, regional, and community-level sharing and collaborations

  • resources and capability-building supports

  • measurement and evaluation support

  • opportunities to guide and inform development of new resources to help strengthen team-based primary care

Program activities ran from November 2023 to September 2024.

Meet the teams

The following organizations and communities were invited to participate in the Strengthening Primary Care program.

Informational Webinar: Strengthening Primary Care Program

This informational webinar covered:

  • How the program was developed

  • Program goal, activities, timeline and outcomes, including information about promising practices that will be profiled through the program

  • Who should apply

  • Benefits of participating

  • How to apply

Co-Hosts

  • Colleen Ferris, Director, Innovations and Strategic Development, Healthcare Excellence Canada

  • Jennifer Major, Senior Program Lead, Innovations and Strategic Development, Healthcare Excellence Canada

Promising practices for improving access to primary care in northern, rural and remote communities

The Strengthening Primary Care program brought together 20 teams of primary care providers, organizations and communities from northern, rural and remote communities across Canada to improve access to primary care.

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