Dear AFHTO members,
AFHTO, along with our nine partner provincial associations on the #ForUsForYou campaign, has secured December 5, 2024, for a Queen’s Park advocacy day. This event will focus on health human resources (HHR) advocacy, with meetings planned between the provincial associations and Ministers/MPPs. The decision was made, at this point, to take the approach of targeted meetings rather than a reception and/or ‘walk or march’.
So, what does this look like?
The coordination is happening across 10 organizations. To ensure our efforts are as impactful as possible, we have mapped AFHTO members to key MPP ridings that the larger group identified. This will allow us to strategically invite representation from member primary care teams with a direct connection to the ridings of the MPPs we will be speaking with, adding a constituent and provider perspective to our discussions. We’ve undertaken a targeted outreach to invite the select Executive Directors and board chairs to partake in this important initiative.
What can you and your teams do right now?
We recognize that our members are ready to be activated in a coordinated manner. We will continue our updates to you and ask that you re-distribute the #ForUsForYou campaign material across your providers and staff and invite them to take part in the social media campaign. In addition, the petition is going strong and we are trying to capture as many signatures as possible. We encourage teams to work together and within regions to strengthen our collective voices.
What happens next?
- AFHTO’s pre-budget submission will be finalized in early December. We will circulate to members to use in their own local advocacy.
- AFHTO’s advocacy package will be finalized in December and sent to members. It will include a templated MPP letter that will include recommendations on how to best tailor it with the data you have to help with messaging. Key messages specific to primary care will also be included.
- AFHTO is reaching out to the regions where the public consultations are taking place for the pre-budget submissions to get as many of our member organizations represented as possible.
- Many members have reached out for support in their letters, invites to MPPs and to have AFHTO attend these meetings. Keep them coming! Our staff and board members are ready to support as best we can. Please coordinate through your Executive Directors and contact Gabriel Korth, Policy and Program Coordinator (Gabriel.korth@afhto.ca)
- Start identifying not just your current MPPs but also those of the opposition that will be running in the upcoming election. We will need to start meeting with them as well.
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to strengthening team-based primary care and supporting our shared advocacy efforts on HHR.
Sincerely,
Jess Rogers
CEO
AFHTO – Advancing Primary Care Teams in Ontario