One year later: Group Health Centre still has 7,000 people waiting for a primary care provider – CBC
Sault Ste. Marie centre de-rostered 10,000 patients at end of May 2024 when doctors left
Jun 30, 2025
Thousands of people in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., continue to rely on a temporary nurse practitioner clinic set up after the Group Health Centre (GHC) de-rostered 10,000 patients just over a year ago.
It was an event that brought home the doctor shortage suddenly and vividly, and continues to highlight issues surrounding recruitment and retention of family doctors.
More than a year later, the president and CEO of GHC, Lil Silvano, said 7,000 patients still aren’t assigned a family practitioner.
As an interim measure, the province provided $2.8 million last May to help set up a nurse practitioner clinic, which was meant to meet the needs of the patients who were dropped at the end of May 2024 when two doctors left the centre and others retired.
