Sudbury’s first private nurse practitioner clinic opens

Nurse practitioners have long been a solution to the shortage of primary care providers in Ontario.

They perform some of the same jobs as family physicians – like diagnosing and treating illnesses, prescribing medication and performing check-ups.

Nurse practitioner Lise Parise checks patient at Elite Wellness, Subury's first private nurse practitioner clinic. March 11/24 (Angela Gemmill/CTV Northern Ontario)

The only problem is their services aren’t covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).

It has led to more nurse practitioners setting up private clinics to help patients who are willing to pay.

That’s exactly why Lisa Parise created Elite Wellness in the Greater Sudbury community of Minnow Lake -- the first private nurse practitioner clinic in the city.

According to Parise, the clinic was created to help patients who were being left behind because they didn’t have a primary care provider.

Most publicly-funded nurse practitioner clinics have significant wait lists for patients looking for a primary health care provider.

"I said 'You know what, enough is enough.' I decided to open up this clinic and open it up to whoever I could help,” she said.

Parise said she realizes there will be critics who point out that by seeking fees for service, her clinic is contributing to a two-tiered health-care system. But, she said she’s covering a gap.

"Until the government will let us bill OHIP, once that happens, we will … I will flip back over to the public health system. It’s just to provide a bridge right now to give patients what they need and what they’re missing," she said.

Parise said Elite Wellness could easily switch to a publicly funded clinic if the provincial government would allow nurse practitioners to bill the provincial plan.

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"That would just mean instead of the fees for service, then I would bill OHIP," she said.

"That’s all that would mean."

The Ontario NDP health critic, Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas, said she feels nurse practitioners could take on many of the orphaned patients searching for a primary care provider.

Gelinas said she brings the issue up weekly in the provincial legislature, but the government hasn’t moved on either increasing funding or allowing them to bill OHIP, leaving many nurse practitioners in a difficult spot.

"It is really hard for them in a situation like we have in Ontario right now to sit on the sidelines and be unemployed when you know that so many people need care," the MPP said.

The Nurse Practitioners Association of Ontario represents 5,000 members across the province.

CEO Michelle Acorn said the nurse practitioners who are turning to private clinics are frustrated with the lack of parity and provincial funding for those in primary health care.

"If there is a funding option or public funding, that is the way to go to make sure everybody has accessible, universal health care as well," Acorn said.

"Let’s just really put forward policy and dedicated investments."

In an emailed statement to CTV News, a spokesperson for the Ontario minister of health said:

"Our government will not tolerate clinics taking advantage of a loophole created by federal legislations and charging patients to access primary care. We hope the federal government takes action to ensure Ontarians, and Canadians, can access publicly funded primary care.

Each year our government invests nearly $50 million to connect hundreds of thousands of Ontarians to publicly funded primary care through 25 nurse practitioner-led clinics (NPLCs) across the province; nurse practitioners can also provide publicly funded primary care through other interprofessional teams like Family Health Teams (FHTs)...

Ontario is the first jurisdiction to use the NPLC model of care and we will continue to use this innovative way of delivering publicly funded primary care to connect hundreds of thousands of people across the province to the care they need."