Dean Jane Philpott to lead Ontario primary health care action team

News & Announcements | 22 Oct 2024

Since the release of her best-selling book, “Health for All: A Doctor’s Prescription for a Healthier Canada,” last spring, Dean Jane Philpott has championed for health systems change to ensure primary care access to all Canadians. This vision has driven her to take on a new role with the Ontario government as chair of the inaugural primary care action team with a mandate to connect every person in Ontario to primary health care within the next five years.

Dean Jane Philpott will be taking on the new role effective Dec. 1, 2024 and her last day as dean of Queen’s Health Sciences and CEO of the Southeastern Ontario Academic Medical Organization (SEAMO) will be Nov. 30, 2024.

“Ontario can build a health system where the guarantee of access to a primary care team is as automatic as the assurance that every child will be assigned to a public school in their neighbourhood. Our goal will be for 100 per cent of Ontarians to be attached to a family doctor or nurse practitioner working in a publicly funded team, where they receive ongoing, comprehensive care and people can access that care in a timely way,” says Dean Philpott.

In response to the book, Dean Philpott’s expertise and counsel on how to transform health policy to increase access to primary care, has been sought by provincial health authorities, medical associations and primary care providers across the country. She has delivered keynote talks, conducted countless media interviews, published op eds and has become a trusted voice on this issue that affects the health and well-being of every Canadian.

One of her key motivations for writing the book was to inspire more people to believe that Canada’s health systems can be improved, that a better future for health care is possible in this country by ensuring every Canadian has access to comprehensive primary care. Her appointment to this role puts her in the right position to effect the change needed to create a strong foundation of primary care in Ontario.

“There’s no one I trust more than Dr. Philpott with her considerable experience to keep moving us forward and get us across the finish line of connecting everyone in the province to more convenient primary health care within the next five years,” says Sylvia Jones, Ontario Minister of Health.

“I would like to congratulate Dean Philpott on her appointment to this important new role with the Ontario government that will be focused on improving the primary care system upon which we all rely,” says Principal Patrick Deane. “During her time at Queen’s, Dean Philpott has further established herself as a national leader in healthcare reform, while also making significant contributions to the university and faculty, where she introduced a range of new programs to strengthen research, teaching, and our commitment to accessibility and inclusion.”

Dean Philpott joined Queen’s in July 2020 and since that time has led the faculty on a journey of ‘radical collaboration,’ and developed an innovative educational and training partnership between Queen’s and Lakeridge Health to address family physician shortages in southeastern Ontario. She helped establish the Office of Indigenous Health and led QHS in developing an equity, diversity, inclusion, Indigeneity and accessibility action plan and more recently led the creation of a new admissions process that improves equitable access to the MD program.

In June, she announced a transformational gift from Murray (Com’84) and Cara Sinclair that will significantly advance cancer research at Queen’s. The $25 million donation will help the university build research capacity in an area of existing strength, establish advanced facilities, create training opportunities, and work to improve cancer care and treatments locally, nationally, and around the world. In addition, she led the expansion of a partnership with the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) to launch a program to prepare Indigenous students for healthcare careers, with support from the Mastercard Foundation.

Dean Jane Philpott to lead Ontario primary health care action team

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