Tsegaye Bekele

Access to family physicians remains an important topic in health care planning and research in Ontario. This paper examines accessibility to family physicians in the Toronto Census Metro Area (CMA) using spatial and nonspatial accessibility measures. A deprivation index is developed as a proxy measure for nonspatial accessibility. Spatial accessibility is examined using two spatial models. An overall accessibility index is also developed by integrating deprivation index and spatial accessibility measures. Data for the study is derived from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and the 2001 Census of Canada. Three important findings emerge from this study. First, there is a disparity in spatial accessibility to family physicians. Second, areas in central part of the CMA are highly deprived. Third, there is uneven overall accessibility to family physicians. These findings suggest that a disparity of accessibility to family physicians exists and measures are required to address this inequity.