I’m so happy to be saying this today. This past Friday, I was pleased to announce almost $2 million in new funding to support primary care in Windsor–Essex. This—

Interjections.

This funding will connect almost 8,000 more in our community with new services in primary care much closer to home.

Part of this funding will create new practitioner positions at the community health centre based at the Canadian Mental Health Association Windsor-Essex branch. More health human resources will mean more patients can access the roster of services available.

Part of this funding is also expanding the mobile medical support team, a mobile health care clinic that can truly go anywhere in the moment. Through episodic care, preventive care or wraparound services, our vulnerable, high-risk, underserved areas can more easily be helped.

Building on the $424,525 in support of the Essex County Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic just announced a few weeks ago in Kingsville, bringing more care to 1,200 county residents; the Windsor-Essex regional acute-care hospital; the mental health in-patient bed expansion at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare; among many, many other investments, our government is investing deeply in health care in Windsor and Essex county.

Under the leadership of Premier Ford and Minister Jones, our government’s additional $546 million over three years for inter-professional primary care teams will connect 600,000 people with primary care closer to home.