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Unison Health & Community Services and Humber River Health partnership will connect more residents to ongoing, community-based care
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TORONTO, Sept. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Unison Health & Community Services has received $3,397,500 in funding from the Government of Ontario to expand access to team-based primary care through a new partnership with Humber River Health and the Schulich Family Medicine Teaching Unit (FMTU). The $3.4 million investment will strengthen access to integrated, team-based primary care and help connect more North Western Toronto residents, without a family physician or nurse practitioner, to ongoing care.
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Through Ontario’s Primary Care Action Plan, the funding will support the addition of interprofessional care providers to serve more patients across the two organizations. A portion of the funding will support expanded access to team-based primary care at Schulich FMTU. The partnership will also establish Unison as a teaching site for the Schulich FMTU at Hennick Humber Hospital, creating new opportunities to train future family physicians in community-based care.
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“Unison has a long history of providing accessible, culturally responsive care to communities facing barriers to health and social services,” said Michelle Joseph, CEO of Unison Health & Community Services. “This partnership allows us to combine our community-based approach with the Schulich FMTU’s clinical and teaching expertise. Together, we will reach residents where they are, connect more people to a trusted primary care team and provide care that reflects the languages, cultures and lived experiences of the communities we serve.”
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North Western Toronto has significant unmet primary care needs, often described as a “primary care desert”, with more than 50,000 residents considered unattached or uncertainly attached to a regular primary care provider. The need is especially significant in a diverse and growing community where 60 per cent of residents identify as racialized, 54 per cent are immigrants, and the population of seniors over the age of 80 – the largest in Ontario – is expected to double by 2036. Many residents experience geographic, linguistic, mobility, and financial barriers that can make accessing care more difficult.
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The partnership will create a coordinated network of eight clinic locations across North Western Toronto and offer flexible models of care, including in-person and virtual appointments, same-day urgent care, evening and weekend services, and outreach in community settings. Patients will be connected through several pathways, including Health Care Connect, hospital referrals, self-referrals, and community outreach. This work will be supported by the North Western Toronto Ontario Health Team and Primary Care Network, which aim to enable integrated care for North Western Toronto residents.
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“We are incredibly grateful to the Government of Ontario for investing in a solution that addresses both immediate primary care needs and the long-term sustainability of our healthcare system,” said Barbara Collins, President and CEO of Humber River Health. “Humber River Health established the Schulich Family Medicine Teaching Unit to help address a critical gap in access to primary care across North Western Toronto while training more providers in the communities they will ultimately serve. Through our partnership with Unison Health & Community Services, we are expanding access to high-quality, team-based care and helping ensure more residents can connect with the primary care services they need.”