WELL Health Announces Availability for 45,000 New Primary Care Patients Across 3 Provinces Enabled by Investments in Physician Recruitment and Digital Transformation
These figures are expected to grow as additional physicians are onboarded, and new panels are activated in the coming months. This expanded access is part of WELL's broader effort to address Canada's growing access-to-care crisis by combining physician recruitment and advanced technology to deliver timely, high-quality care at scale. All patients would need in order to be eligible is to present their valid provincial health card (1).
Interested patients can visit https://newpatients.wellclinics.ca/ to express their interest. Submissions will be prioritized in the order they are received.
Dr. Michael Frankel, Chief Medical Officer of WELL commented 'As a Canadian owned and operated company which owns and operates the largest network of outpatient medical clinics in Canada, we are very proud of this announcement as it is a clear demonstration that our team's hard work is helping improve access to care for Canadians. All this is made possible because of our investments and advancements which are helping providers with the tools and support they need to be successful, as well as investments we have made in recruiting and retaining physicians to ensure they are attracted to and stay in Canada. We are keenly focused on helping our providers achieve operational excellence while maintaining strict clinical autonomy as is the case in all WELL clinics. We are building a stronger foundation for long-term system capacity and helping our providers improve patient outcomes in the process.'
Across Canada, millions of people continue to face barriers in accessing primary care. More than 6 million Canadians currently lack a regular family doctor (2), and in some regions, wait times to access a family doctor can range from several weeks to several months (3). The problem is systemic and multifactorial: a growing number of physicians are retiring or reducing hours, while too few new graduates are entering family medicine. At the same time, doctors are spending increasing amounts of their workday on administrative tasks rather than patient care. Some estimates suggest that up to 30 to 40 percent of clinicians' time is spent on documentation, managing referrals, and other non-clinical work illustrating the inefficiencies that exist in traditional practices.
WELL is taking a direct and measurable approach to solving this crisis, combining IMG recruitment with industry-leading digital health solutions to expand and amplify care capacity. These efforts are already resulting in new patient panels being created across WELL's national clinic network. The panels are in varying stages of development, with some are already built, while others are actively ramping up as new physicians join the network.
Jeremy Mickolwin, Vice President of Clinic Operations at WELL, commented 'At WELL, we are implementing sophisticated digital workflows that are highly effective in real clinical settings and that drastically reduce the time providers spend on administrative work. Our team brings years of hands-on experience and understands the complexity of change management in healthcare. Combining our experience with the operational scale required to lead clinic transformation in the digital age allows us to deliver results that matter. Physicians in WELL clinics are spending more time with patients and less time on paperwork, and that is exactly the kind of progress our healthcare system needs. WELL is proud to be able to offer family doctors to thousands of Canadians who are currently without access to longitudinal care. Ensuring a patient has a family doctor isn't a luxury, it's a foundation of equitable, effective healthcare.'
Enabling Better Care Through Clinic Transformation and Technology
Inside its clinics, WELL has implemented a powerful suite of tools powered by its subsidiary, WELLSTAR Technologies Corp. (' WELLSTAR '), that reduce physician burnout, increase efficiency, and improve documentation quality. Nexus AI™, WELLSTAR's proprietary ambient scribe, safely and compliantly listens to patient visits in real time and automatically generates accurate, structured medical notes. Recent studies indicate that physicians using AI-enabled ambient scribe tools save as much as 2 hours per day on charting and post-visit documentation, allowing them to focus more on care and reduce their end-of-day workload. Nexus AI is a pre-qualified vendor for the Canada Health Infoway AI Scribe Program.
In addition, WELL Clinics is leveraging patient engagement tools from OceanMD, a WELLSTAR company, including eForms, online booking, and automated triage to power its National Patient Registration system. OceanMD operates one of Canada's most advanced referral and patient engagement platforms, processing over 140,000 referrals per month. OceanMD helps automate intake, reduce referral backlogs, and enable secure communication between primary care providers, specialists, and patients through comprehensive digital tools, including online appointment booking, streamlined patient consent management, and secure messaging capabilities. These patient engagement features are driving significant clinic transformation and digital enhancements, creating benefits for both providers and patients through reduced administrative burden and improved convenience.
By coordinating care more effectively across various settings and providing patients with self-service tools for booking, consent, and communication, OceanMD is enhancing throughput and alleviating strain on the system.
WELL's approach enables physicians to thrive in primary care settings and deliver high-quality, continuous care. This model has also become a key driver of recruitment success, particularly among internationally trained physicians seeking modern, digitally supported practices.
Bolstering the Front Lines Through IMG Recruitment
To address Canada's growing shortage of family doctors, WELL has made the recruitment and onboarding of internationally trained physicians a strategic priority. This effort was significantly strengthened by the Company's January 2025 control investment in Physicians For You, one of Canada's largest and most established physician recruitment platforms. Physicians For You specializes in identifying, qualifying, and placing internationally trained doctors who meet Canadian licensing standards, an essential capability as demand for primary care continues to outpace physician supply nationwide.
Through this acquisition, WELL has added deep recruitment expertise, international reach, and a purpose-built platform that now serves as a central engine for its IMG hiring strategy. In the last 6 months alone, WELL has successfully placed 25 new IMGs across its clinic network, with a growing number of placements being sourced and supported through Physicians For You.
These physicians are entering team-based care environments equipped with robust digital infrastructure, enabling them to begin practicing quickly and build full patient panels, sometimes in as little as 60 days. This IMG-led expansion has already unlocked thousands of new appointments in high-demand regions including Toronto, Durham Region, Ottawa, Calgary, and Winnipeg. By investing in both the pipeline as well as the practice environment, WELL is helping to close the access gap at its root and build a more sustainable foundation for primary care delivery in Canada.
Looking ahead, WELL expects to onboard at least 20 additional internationally trained physicians through its IMG recruitment program in 2025. This continued growth, supported by Physicians For You, will extend WELL's reach into high-demand regions and help ensure its clinics are equipped to meet patient needs as demand continues to rise.
Footnotes:
The patient openings referred to in this announcement all relate to publicly funded visits and are covered under the applicable provincial health plan. There is no cost to a patient that presents a valid health card. In Ontario, visits are covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), in Alberta, visits are covered by 'Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) and in Manitoba, visits are covered by Manitoba Health, Seniors and Active Living (MHSAL).
Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Access to Primary Care: Many Canadians Face Challenges, December 2024. Available at: www.cihi.ca.
Source: Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (2018–2021 data), visualized by CBC News.
WELL HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES CORP.
Per: 'Hamed Shahbazi'
Hamed Shahbazi
Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and Director
WELL Health Technologies Inc.
About WELL Health Technologies Corp.
WELL's mission is to tech-enable healthcare providers. We do this by developing the best technologies, services, and support available, which ensures healthcare providers are empowered to positively impact patient outcomes. WELL's comprehensive healthcare and digital platform includes extensive front and back-office management software applications that help physicians run and secure their practices. WELL's solutions enable more than 42,000 healthcare providers between the US and Canada and power the largest owned and operated healthcare ecosystem in Canada with more than 210 clinics supporting primary care, specialized care, and diagnostic services. In the United States WELL's solutions are focused on specialized markets such as the gastrointestinal market, women's health, primary care, and mental health. WELL is publicly traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol 'WELL' and on the OTC Exchange under the symbol 'WHTCF'. To learn more about the Company, please visit: www.well.company.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release, constitute 'forward-looking information' and 'forward looking statements' (collectively, 'forward looking statements') within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, including the number of expected new patients WELL will be servicing and the expected number of new IMG recruits in 2025. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon management's expectations, while considered reasonable by WELL as of the date of such statements, are outside of WELL's control and are inherently subject to business, economic and other uncertainties and contingencies which could result in the forward-looking statements ultimately being entirely or partially incorrect or untrue. Forward looking statements contained in this press release are based on various assumptions, including, but not limited to the ability to identify and recruit patients, recruit physicians, maintain the number of physicians working at WELL's clinics, and continuing to deploy technologies at WELL clinics which drive efficiencies at such locations.
Known and unknown risk factors, many of which are beyond the control of WELL could cause the actual plans to differ materially from the results implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risk factors include not identifying appropriate IMG recruits, not being able to recruit additional physicians, not successfully recruiting new patients, not being able to deploy or integrate technologies at all of its clinics, and the other risks discussed under the section entitled 'Risk Factors' in WELL's most recent annual information form, which is available under the companies' respective SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca which could affect WELL's business. The risk factors are not intended to represent a complete list of the factors that could affect WELL and the reader is cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that forward looking statements will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about management's expectations and plans relating to the future. WELL disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. All of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements.
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