Jordan StevensonFor Port Hope Mayor
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Platform pillar 05

Better Access to Basic Healthcare

Own the resident's experience

A resident who cannot find primary care does not care which level of government owns the org chart. Port Hope cannot replace the provincial healthcare system. It can help organize local assets, identify broken handoffs, support credible delivery partners, advocate through County and provincial channels and report publicly when access gaps remain unresolved.

The short version

At a glance

What changes first

  1. Publish a local healthcare action plan naming the gaps Port Hope can help address and who owns each next step.
  2. Offer appropriate municipal space or limited support where it unlocks a credible and governed service.
  3. Use the mayor's County Council seat to push for stronger community paramedicine and mobile care.

Who pays

Municipal contributions must be limited, transparent and tied to a credible provider, partner funding and measurable outcomes. Ongoing clinical operating costs remain the responsibility of the appropriate healthcare partners. Town Hall must still coordinate local assets, advocate and report when care pathways are failing.

What success looks like

  • More residents complete referrals and follow-up.
  • Community-paramedicine and mobile-service reach improves.
  • Supported services have clear hours, escalation routes and clinical governance.
  • Municipal and partner spending is publicly connected to outcomes.
  • Unresolved service gaps have a named owner and escalation path.

What Jordan supports

  • Expanded community paramedicine within County and provincial roles
  • Virtual care connected to real follow-up, diagnostics, prescriptions and in-person escalation
  • Municipal space or limited funding where it unlocks a credible, governed service
  • Recruitment and retention work tied to evidence and partner commitments

What Jordan will not support

  • Pretending the municipality can replace the provincial healthcare system
  • A virtual-care kiosk that becomes another dead end
  • Open-ended municipal subsidies without outcomes, partners or an exit plan
  • Using jurisdiction as the final answer to a resident

Concrete commitments

What changes

  • Map primary-care, urgent-care, paramedicine, mental-health and virtual-care gaps using official partner information
  • Offer suitable municipal space where a credible provider and operating model exist
  • Use the mayor's County role to press for coordinated community paramedicine and mobile service
  • Publish specific asks to the Province and report the response
  • Set privacy, clinical-governance, accessibility and follow-up requirements for any municipally supported service

How it works

The mechanisms behind the position

Community paramedicine

Through County Council, advocate for stable programs that complement primary care rather than replace physicians.

  • Chronic-condition monitoring and medication support
  • Hospital discharge follow-up
  • Falls assessment and aging at home
  • Support for frequent emergency-department or 911 users
  • Assessment, referral and connection to local services

Virtual care with a complete pathway

Virtual care should supplement in-person care, not become a webcam and a dead end.

  • Assisted access and technology support for seniors and residents without suitable devices
  • Privacy and accessibility standards
  • Integrated diagnostics, prescriptions and referrals
  • Clear in-person escalation and completed follow-up

Municipal help with guardrails

Possible tools include a care hub, rotating nurse-practitioner or visiting-provider space, mobile or pop-up care, a paramedicine base, temporary clinical workspace, recruitment support and transportation.

  • Qualified delivery partners
  • External operating funding
  • A sustainable plan and defined service gap
  • Published outcomes and review dates
  • No unlimited municipal blank cheque

Responsibility

Who controls what

Jurisdiction sets the route to action. It does not end the conversation.

Port Hope controls

  • Municipal property and convening capacity
  • Limited local grants or investment approved through the budget
  • Local advocacy, communications and navigation support

Cooperation required

  • Ontario Ministry of Health and Ontario Health
  • Northumberland County Paramedics
  • Primary-care organizations, hospitals, community providers and clinicians

Measure progress

Residents should be able to check the result

  • Residents attached to primary care where official data is available
  • Community-paramedicine reach and referral completion
  • Waits, service hours and in-person escalation from supported access points
  • Provincial requests, commitments and unresolved gaps
  • Municipal dollars, partner dollars and outcomes for supported projects

Keep reading

The same governing standards apply across the platform

Authority must be assigned clearly. Responsibility for the resident's experience must not disappear between institutions.

No wrong door. Show the work. Fair rules and meaningful recourse. One Port Hope. Change course when the facts change.

How I'll GovernStraight Answers

Help improve the platform

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This platform should improve through serious public feedback. Tell Jordan what is right, what is wrong and what needs more work.

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