Across Canada, governments are scrambling to address the growing shortage of family doctors. In one recent example, Newfoundland and Labrador announced a $2 million pilot project to publicly fund nurse practitioners, giving patients access to primary care without out-of-pocket costs. It’s an encouraging step forward — but here in Ottawa, Centrum Pharmacy and Orleans Family Health Clinic (OFHC) have already built the model that Ontario should be implementing province-wide.
At Centrum Pharmacy, we don’t wait for patients to fall through the cracks. We’ve created a unique integrated care model where pharmacists work closely with physicians and specialists to deliver complete, comprehensive, caring, and connected care.
Unlike most pharmacies in Ontario, we have gone further by actively recruiting family physicians and nurse practitioners to our partner clinic, OFHC, ensuring that thousands of patients who would otherwise be without a family doctor are now rostered and receiving continuous care. This means:
Access to family doctors: A rare achievement at a time when millions of Canadians cannot find one.
Pharmacist-led care for minor ailments: Immediate access to assessment, treatment, and prescriptions when needed.
Seamless collaboration: Patients move between pharmacist, physician, and nurse practitioner support — all under one coordinated system.
This is exactly the type of solution Ontario needs. While the Ford Government should be applauded for allowing pharmacists to prescribe for minor ailments, it must go further: fund nurse practitioners, expand pharmacists’ scope, and incentivize physician recruitment.
At Centrum Pharmacy, we are proof that this model works. With the right policies, we can replicate this success across Ontario — ensuring every community, from Ottawa to the most rural parts of the province, has timely access to primary care.
We are already doing today what governments are only beginning to pilot elsewhere.
Looking for a family doctor yourself? Find out if our physician waitlist is open.
Looking for a Family Doctor?
Check our get a doctor page to see if our waitlists are open and consider transferring your prescriptions to Centrum Pharmacy!
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Caring for Your Family Since 1999
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