Building political support: Register for Apr.15 webinar on Ontario’s pre-election period

With a potential election on the horizon, now is the time to strengthen political support for interprofessional comprehensive primary care.  Regardless of which party forms the next government, our collective job is to ensure all politicians and candidates are well-educated on the value of interprofessional comprehensive primary care teams and the need for support to expand access, enhance value, and enable recruitment of the staff needed to deliver care. Learn more about this campaign and how you can participate in it. Pre-register to join us for our Political Action webinar – Tuesday, April 15, 4:00 – 5:00 PM Eastern time. Public Affairs consultant Patrick Nelson will join AFHTO President Keri Selkirk and ED Angie Heydon to:

• Give an overview of the current political landscape as it relates to primary care;
• Review AFHTO’s political action activities and responses to date;
• Share tips and techniques for making the most of your meetings with MPPs and candidates;
• Answer your questions and ensure you receive the support you need for your meetings.

AFHTO launched the province-wide “Better Care. Healthier Families. Best Value.” campaign in the Ontario Legislature on March 17^th – the 10-year anniversary of government’s announcement of Family Health teams. Following from that:

• You received an e-mail from us on March 27 or 28 asking you to meet with your local MPP(s) and candidates and equipping you with key messages and other materials for these meetings.  These were e-mailed on a riding-by-riding basis so that you could coordinate in ridings where there are multiple AFHTO members.
• AFHTO has mailed the “Better Care. Healthier Families. Best Value.” brochure to all MPPs.
• Last Thursday, AFHTO’s President Keri Selkirk and ED Angie Heydon met with the PC and NDP Health Critics, Christine Elliott and France Gélinas. While all parties support the general concept of interprofessional primary care, the key issue is to educate on the value of committing to further investment to expand access and enhance value while also enabling sufficient funding to recruit and retain staff.
• Keri and Angie are also scheduling meetings with key health policy advisors in all three parties.

With over 100 ridings in this province, your help is needed in this campaign, and AFHTO is here to help you. Many AFHTO members have cultivated strong relationships with their local politicians; others may welcome advice and support to strengthen political links. Please pre-register for the Building Political Support Webinar, April 15, 2014, 4:00 PM EDT, at:   https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1282647741528869121