Dear EDs/Admin Leads, Lead Clinicians and Board Chairs,
Hoping this message finds you well and that you all had a great summer.
It has been a busy summer for AFHTO as we have been active with our Ontario Health colleagues. On September 5th, 2024, from 12:00-1:30 p.m., AFHTO met with EDs and other members of the triad group to provide a comprehensive update on AFHTO’s organizational and advocacy accomplishments over the summer. We also had a lengthy roundtable discussion where AFHTO got to hear from members directly on the issues facing them. This email aims to provide a summary of the updates given at that meeting.
The interim CEO reported to the group that AFHTO does not have any specific information on the dates or timeline for the contract modernization as of right now. There may be a renewal of current FHT contracts with the approach to take advantage of changes that are possible without revising the whole contract. Access reporting may be put in contracts for the first time as an additional accountability measure but will require codesign support from AFHTO and members. There is active work being done on items that remain in contracts from when organizations were start-ups and the items no longer belong in a renewed contract as these are now mature organizations, including AFHTO.
AFHTO also met with Ontario Health centrally to discuss the experiences that teams are having with OH Primary Care Regional team members. Please continue to provide feedback if AFHTO can help.
There is approximately 64 million dollars that was not allocated from the $546 million dollar announcement in early 2024. The timeline for a process that will increase investment for IPCTs to round out that investment cycle is late 2024- early 2025.
During the AFHTO Board Meeting in two weeks, the strategic plan will be discussed and approved. AFHTO is happy to announce that there were 120 member responses for the strategic planning survey. A series of one-on-one interviews were conducted with AFHTO’s key partners, including the Alliance for Healthier Communities, Indigenous Primary Health Care Council and senior leaders from the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health.
The strategic planning survey showed that members are seeking a provincial organization who is committed to advocacy and able to demonstrate member support. Members are looking for AFHTO to support organizations to deliver governance and operational excellence serving communities across Ontario. These are the high-level themes that are reflected in the strategic plan and will be discussed more fully after Board approval.
Upcoming objectives for AFHTO through the 10 Organization HHR Collaborative are: raising awareness with the government and the public about the ongoing wage gap. There have been a number of meetings with Ministers about the wage gap and the impact within primary care and the broader community sector. Members will see the intentional shift of the advocacy campaign from member driven advocacy (June – September) to a coordinated public relations campaign aimed at community support.
For those members who are currently meeting with their MPPs and advocating at the local level, you can find the previously developed government relations toolkit here.
Sincerely,
Your AFHTO Team