{"id":22717,"date":"2025-11-03T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T05:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/?post_type=news_release&p=22717"},"modified":"2026-06-15T14:36:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T18:36:17","slug":"longer-distances-to-family-physician-has-negative-effect-on-access-to-health-care","status":"publish","type":"news_release","link":"https:\/\/www.ices.on.ca\/fr\/news-releases\/longer-distances-to-family-physician-has-negative-effect-on-access-to-health-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Longer distances to family physician has negative effect on access to health care"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the last 10\u00a0years, access to primary care has declined in Canada, and this decline accelerated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Even after moving, many patients reported continuing with their family physicians, despite travelling longer distances to reach them.<\/p>\n

\u201cDistance to health care services is an important determinant of health and can be classified as a factor of health care utilization, with increased distance a potential barrier to receiving care,\u201d writes Dr.\u00a0Archna Gupta, a scientist at Upstream Lab<\/a> and a family physician at St.\u00a0Michael\u2019s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, with coauthors.<\/p>\n

To understand the impact of distance between family physicians and their patients on health care usage and quality of care, researchers undertook a large study based on data as of Mar.\u00a031, 2023. The study of almost 10\u00a0million patients in Ontario, Canada\u2019s largest province, found that 13% of patients lived more than 30\u00a0km from their family physician. These patients were more likely to visit the emergency department for nonurgent reasons and had fewer visits with a family physician in the previous two years. They were also more likely to be male, to be under 65\u00a0years of age, to live in a low-income neighbourhood, and to be newcomers to Ontario.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research shows that people use the emergency room not just because they don\u2019t have a family doctor or can\u2019t get an appointment. It\u2019s also because their family doctor might be too far away to reach easily. The distance makes it harder for many Ontarians to get the care they need when they need it most,\u201d says Dr.\u00a0Archna Gupta.<\/p>\n

Patients who lived more than 150\u00a0km from their family physician had the highest odds of an emergency department visit for nonurgent reasons and were less likely to visit their physician. As well, the farther patients lived from their primary care physician, the less likely they were to undergo preventive screening for colorectal, breast, or cervical cancer.<\/p>\n

The authors hope this study will aid policy-makers with health care planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIncorporating distance to a family physician can provide policy-makers with a more nuanced understanding of unmet primary care demand. Our findings suggest that reforms should prioritize offering primary care a minimum of 30 km from a patient\u2019s home,\u201d conclude the authors.<\/p>\n

\u201cDistance to primary care and its association with health care use and quality of care in Ontario: a cross-sectional study\u201d is<\/em> published November\u00a03, 2025.<\/p>\n

Research:<\/strong><\/em> https:\/\/www.cmaj.ca\/lookup\/doi\/10.1503\/cmaj.250265<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Media contact for research:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Communications, Unity Health Toronto, communications@unityhealth.to<\/a>
\nCommunications, Upstream Lab, upstreamlab.comms@unityhealth.to<\/a><\/p>\n

Please credit CMAJ, not the Canadian Medical Association (CMA). CMAJ is an independent medical journal; views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of its owner, CMA Impact Inc., a CMA company, or CMA.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Living farther than 30 km from a family physician can negatively affect access to health care, found a new Ontario study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","migration-helper-automated":[],"migration-manual":[],"topic":[20,62,28],"class_list":["post-22717","news_release","type-news_release","status-publish","hentry","topic-health-and-health-care-inequality","topic-health-services-research","topic-primary-care"],"acf":{"infographic":[23142],"journal_article":[22716],"research_report":"","atlas":"","research_program":[6747],"site":[6736],"ices_scientist":[1145,1248,1250],"announce_or_event":"","video":"","iitn_type":"Article","iitn_title":"","iitn_short_title":"","iitn_source_link_url":"","iitn_source_link_text":"","sitecore_item_id":"","sitecore_item_name":"","sitecore_field_values":"","previous_url":""},"yoast_head":"\nICES | Longer distances to family physician has negative effect on access to health care<\/title>\n<meta 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