The Seniors Health Innovations Hub (SHIH) is a group of volunteer seniors in central Ottawa who are committed to enhancing support for aging in place. The SHIH Primary Care Team (PCT) is focused on strategies to improve our community’s access to primary care (care by a family physician or nurse practitioner).

In the early 2020s we were focused on establishing a primary care clinic for older adults, and in 2023 we submitted a joint application with Centretown CHC and Perley Health to fund a nurse practitioner-led clinic for older adults. We did not receive the funding however we were encouraged by the positive feedback we received from the health care sector and many older adults.  In 2025 Jane Philpott introduced the concept of health homes and new criteria to apply for funding so our focus and approach had to change.

Need Primary Care: Get Connected

If you don’t have primary care, be sure to register on Health Care Connect by either using this link or phone 1-800-445-1822. Many of you have been on the list for years without success. However, Ontario Health is using this information to connect Ontarians to new primary care teams.

Report on 2026 Primary Care Questionnaire     

In February 2026, the Primary Care Team emailed the Primary Care Questionnaire to 563 individuals, 493 of whom were subscribers to the SHIH communications.  The purpose was to learn more about their access to a primary care provider (family physician or nurse practitioner).  Related issues such as satisfaction with care, barriers to care and, for those who were not connected, knowledge about how to access primary care were also explored. 

We received responses from 238 individuals. The majority of respondents (90%) were 65 years or older and the vast majority (94%) had access to primary care.  Overall, 93% of those with a primary care provider were satisfied with their care with the majority (66%) being “very satisfied” and 27% being “somewhat satisfied”.  Although most had access to primary care, various barriers including appointment scheduling and distance were identified.  Seventy-one percent (71%) were not worried about the imminent retirement of their primary care provider and being able to find a replacement; however, others expressed concern.

Please click on this LINK to read the complete Report, including our proposed action items.

Forum for Primary Care for Older Adults: An Urgent Need, June 2025

Our goal of the Forum was to build awareness of the crisis in primary health care for older adults, to share related advocacy approaches and to provide strategies to support healthy aging. The intended audience included older adults and their families, caregivers as well as stakeholder and advocacy groups across Ottawa.

Other Activities

On February 24, 2025 the Ottawa Citizen’s award-winning health journalist, Elizabeth Payne, wrote a compelling article outlining the need for seniors primary care as articulated by the SHIH. Read more here.

In January 2024, we presented our case to the Ontario Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs for the 2024 Pre-Budget Consultation: Oral Presentation and Video.

In October 2023 this Evaluation Framework, co-authored by Ms. Hoda Mankal NP-PHC, Dr. Joanna Binch NP-PHC, and Dr. Jennifer Rayner, an Epidemiologist, was written to complement our 2023 Funding submission.