MPP Fraser asks Ontario’s health minister to investigate Ottawa clinic for charging membership fee

A clinic in Ottawa’s south end is offering services for a yearly membership fee, and now a local member of provincial parliament (MPP) is urging Ontario’s minister of health to investigate the matter.

In a letter written to Sylvia Jones, the provincial minister of health, Ottawa South MPP John Fraser said “it is deeply concerning that families in Ottawa South are having to pay for primary care services in our community.”

The South Keys Health Centre, located at Bank Street and Hunt Club Road, opened last week and is offering access to regular care services through a nurse practitioner for $400 a year.

I have been made aware of the health centre opening up in Ottawa South that will be charging patients a membership fee of $400 to access basic primary care services.

I have asked the Minister of Health to investigate.

See letter here: https://t.co/qJ2bVMTTLX

— John Fraser (@JohnFraserOS) September 29, 2023

“The primary foundation for our publicly funded healthcare system is equal access to all,” MPP Fraser’s letter to Minister Jones said. “It is not based on your ability to pay. Access to primary care services should be through your OHIP card and not your credit card.”

Under health laws stated by the province, it is illegal for doctors to charge a fee for services that are covered by OHIP.

However, nurse practitioners do not fall under that law.

The clinic has raised concerns and red flags about a two-tiered healthcare system, but Kevin Skerrett of the Ottawa Health Coalition told The Sam Laprade Show why this type of clinic is opening up in the first place.

“There’s been a systematic underfunding,” he said. “The real alternative to privatizing and opening this door is for governments to take responsibility for recognizing these problems and addressing them with the proper funding and management.”

Skerrett said he’s concerned that this clinic is using the fee to access nurse practitioners as a way to then access family doctors in the same building.

“If that is that the way it were to operate, it would be illegal,” he added. “We don’t know exactly, it is new. But, it definitely needs to be investigated and it’s very troubling for anyone who believes in public and accessible healthcare.”