The Ontario government released an action plan Monday aimed at saving money and making health care more efficient by handing more power over to local health agencies.

Health Minister Deb Matthews said local health integration networks ( LHINs) will be given responsibility for family doctors.

LHINs administer funding to hospitals and co-ordinate care in each region.

With a rapidly aging population and mounting debt, Matthews said a new approach to health care is necessary.

"We can't keep spending our health dollars the way we used to," Matthews said. "If we don't change, we simply won't be able to guarantee sustainable universal public health care for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren. That's why our Action Plan will get better value for our health dollars and put patients first."

The move would help pare down the province's $16-billion deficit, the Ontario Liberals noted, adding that routine procedures would be performed at specialized not-for-profit clinics to save money.

Utilizing LNIHs would ensure, "that patients will have a more seamless experience in the local health care system from their family doctor to hospitals,” the government said in a release.

Matthews spoke at the Toronto Board of Trade on Monday.

"We have a great plan to transform health care,” she said. “Across the province these charges are already starting to take shape.

"Change will not happen overnight and it will not always be easy, the reality is we can't afford to wait.”

Read the full action plan here.