Dean of Health Sciences Dr. Jane Philpott returns to the provincial healthcare landscape with the goal of connecting every Ontarian to a primary healthcare provider.
After receiving her Doctor of Medicine from the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Philpott spent nearly a decade in Niger, providing clinical care to patients and training community health workers. She then returned to Canada to practice as a family doctor at Markham Stouffville Hospital, where she served as Chief of Family Medicine from 2008 to 2014.
Currently, she’s transitioning to her role as chair of a new primary care action team appointed by the Ontario Government, aiming to ensure that every Ontarian has access to a primary care provider within five years.
In an interview with The Journal, Dr. Philpott said the public response to her new role brings her hope.
“The enthusiasm of the population and the number of people that want to help—that makes me feel optimistic,” she said.
When asked about specific goals she’d like to achieve over the next five years, Dr. Philpott explained the team’s first priority is identifying where primary care is most needed in Ontario out of the 2.5 million people without access. The first hundred days of her role will be spent creating a plan to understand these gaps in primary care and areas of investment.
In a press release from the provincial government, more details about the overarching goal of the plan were outlined.
“This plan will include ensuring more convenient access to existing teams with better service on weekends and after-hours, reducing the significant istrative burden on family doctors and other primary care professionals and improving connections to specialists and digital tools,” the release said.
In an interview with The Journal, Philpott referenced her book Health for All: A Doctor’s Prescription for a Healthier Canada, where she compares the importance of primary care access to the public education system. She explained while providing universal education may seem unremarkable, it was once a ground-breaking achievement—one that has yet to be fully realized in healthcare.
“Of course, we make sure every kid can go to school. We don’t even think it’s amazing, but it kind of is, and nobody ever did that for healthcare,” Dr. Philpott said.
Five years ago, the issue of people lacking family doctors wasn’t as prominent, but now, the situation has worsened due to factors like healthcare providers quitting from burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontario’s growing population, and the absence of a primary care matching system, Dr. Philpott explained.
Rather than focusing on the usual challenges of financing and political , she anticipates managing public expectations will be the biggest challenge over the project’s five-year span.
Despite her hopes of accomplishing the project’s mandate in under five years, she acknowledged, “the reality is that I can’t snap my fingers and magically make this whole system come to life.” She emphasized training and attracting healthcare workers to primary care will require significant effort.
As a previously elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Markham-Stouffville in 2015, Dr. Philpott held various cabinet positions, including Minister of Health and Minister of Indigenous Services. She later became the Dean of Queen’s Faculty of Health Sciences in 2020 and Chief Executive Cfficer of the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Organization.
Reflecting on her political experience, Philpott acknowledged the cynicism surrounding politics but highlighted its potential to create a fairer society. She encouraged young people to pursue politics despite the negativity, advising them to imagine how things could be done better and not be afraid to step in and make a difference.
“Just imagine how it could be done better, and don’t be afraid to step in and see if you could make it better,” she said.
As Dr. Philpott transitions out of her roles as Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Director of the School of Medicine, she believes her experience at Queen’s will be invaluable in her next role. She highlighted her deeper understanding of training healthcare professionals and running medical schools, noting that true insight comes from being responsible for making the system work.
Dr. Jane Philpott will begin her role as chair of Ontario’s primary care action team on Dec. 1.
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