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If you’re one of the 60,000 Hamiltonians without a family doctor, the Hamilton Family Health Team wants to hear from you.
“Many people have not believed they can actually get a family physician or nurse practitioner,” Gloria Jordan, the health team’s CEO, told CBC Hamilton Wednesday.
However, she said, that’s not the case — thanks in part to recent provincial investments.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones visited the Hamilton Family Health team on Wednesday to tout government investment in healthcare, including in a program to address the longstanding family doctor shortage.
In a news release, the ministry said the team based on James Street N., received about $800,000 through a provincial action plan in the 2025-2025 fiscal year. Since August 2025, it said, the team of about 1,000 health workers has signed up more than 2,744 patients.
In June, Jordan said, her organization received $5 million from the province to help connect over 10,000 more people to family doctors and primary care teams at clinics including:
Carlisle Medical Centre.Compass Community Centre.Eva Rothwell Centre.Escarpment Health Centre.Lincoln Medical Centre.Southmount Health Care Centre.
“As we work to connect everyone to primary care by 2029, our government is protecting Ontario’s health-care system by investing in new and expanded primary care teams in Ontario communities, including Hamilton, that will keep families healthier while relieving pressures on emergency departments,” Jones said in the news release.
In January, the minister said the province was on track to meet its 2029 goal, with about 1.98 million people still without primary care.
WATCH | How a Toronto health team connected 15,000 people with a doctor:
They’ve connected 15,000 Torontonians with a doctor. Here’s how
The Mid-West Toronto Ontario Health Team has launched two new programs designed to improve access to primary care and make the health system more equitable. CBC’s Tyler Cheese explains how the initiative is connecting thousands of people with doctors and expanding access to medical care.
In 2023, the Hamilton Family Health Team told CBC Hamilton the city needed 60 more family doctors to ensure everyone in the city has one.
On Wednesday, Jordan said she wasn’t sure how many doctors are needed now, but said that one practice can serve 800 to 1,800 patients.
“We can close the gap for the 60,000 people,” she said. “Part of that is investment and the other part is getting the word out and finding the people who need to be connected.”
To that end, she said, the health team is going to events including Art Crawl and Ribfest and to urgent care clinics and emergency departments to spread the word on how to sign up with them.
Gloria Jordan is the CEO of the Hamilton Family Health Team. (Submitted by Hamilton Family Health Team)
Being a family physician is tough, Jordan said, with “a lot of the [health] system downloaded onto primary care.”
However, she said, efforts to educate new doctors and investments in existing services will make the profession more attractive.
She said anyone looking for a primary care provider should register with Ontario’s Health Care Connect tool.
Jordan added her team will work with people who call or email to match them with doctors in their neighbourhoods.
In addition to a stop at a health team clinic in the North End, Jones visited Hamilton General Hospital Wednesday to announce the groundbreaking of an emergency department expansion, scheduled to be completed by 2030.