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  • Bits & Pieces: CIRA grants and more

    Bits & Pieces: CIRA grants and more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • CIRA grant deadline April 12
    • Diagnosing and treating POTS in Long COVID patients and more
    • Reminder- Q & A with Fernando Tavares for EDs, Mar. 28
    • Perkopolis Day at Canada’s Wonderland
    • Relevant reports – networks of care in resource constrained settings & socioeconomic gradient in mortality

     
    • Feedback on supplemental screening as adjunct to mammography for breast cancer screening in people with dense breasts
    • Upcoming events including Pharmacists’ Expanded Scope – and What it Means for Appropriate Prescribing, and more

     

    CIRA grant deadline April 12
    AFHTO members and/or their partners may be eligible for Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) grants. Grants are available up to $100,000. You can learn more about eligibility, key dates and priority funding areas for 2023 on their site. You can also watch their information webinar here.

    Diagnosing and treating POTS in Long COVID patients and more

    Recent updates include:

    We continue to update multiple pages on our site with resources and news:

    Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates– the original page, with news and updates. You can find links to related pages here as well.

    Reminder- Q & A with Fernando Tavares for EDs, Mar. 28

    Fernando Tavares will join us for another Q&A session to provide a brief update on the Annual Operating Plan (submission timelines + process), discuss further details on the FHT contract extension including updates to the Governance & Attestation document, and review details of the “Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care” investment of $30 million to help bridge the gap in accessing interprofessional primary care. All EDs/Admin Leads are invited to attend the session on March 28th @ 12:00pm. Register here.

    Picture of people with their legs dangling as they sit at the top of a rollercoaster on a sunny day. The background shows trees and neighbourhoods. Text- early bird special .99

     

    Perkopolis Day at Canada’s Wonderland

    Perkopolis Day at Canada’s Wonderland is April 29th. This is an exclusive opportunity to spend a day enjoying Wonderland before the park opens. If your team isn’t registered under the AFHTO account yet, please email info@afhto.ca. Early bird deadline is March 31st. Find out more.

     

    Relevant reports – networks of care in resource constrained settings & socioeconomic gradient in mortality

    Feedback on supplemental screening as adjunct to mammography for breast cancer screening in people with dense breasts

    Ontario Health invites you to share your thoughts about a health technology assessment and draft funding recommendation Supplemental Screening as an Adjunct to Mammography for Breast Cancer Screening in People With Dense Breasts. Open for feedback until April 6, 2023. Learn more here.

    Pharmacists’ Expanded Scope – and What it Means for Appropriate Prescribing, Mar. 22, 2023

    In several provinces, the scope of pharmacist prescribing has expanded, enabling them to assess and prescribe treatments for common syndromes. With other provinces and territories expected to adopt similar approaches, how do we support pharmacists, physicians, and other healthcare professionals in promoting resource stewardship and appropriate prescribing practices? Hosted by Choose Wisely Toronto. Find out more here.

    Journey with depression: Experiences accessing treatment and services, Mar. 23, 2023
    Virtual town hall hosted by ODPRN Citizens’ Panel with Dr. Noah Ivers. Find out more here.

    Together We Care 2023, Mar. 27- 29, 2023
    Together We Care is the largest and most comprehensive learning and networking experience for professionals in long-term care and retirement living. Find out more here.

    Engaging primary care – from the inside out, Mar. 24, 2023
    Part of the OHT Impact Fellows- Knowledge Translation Lunch and Learn Series. Register here.

    DFCM New Horizons Speaker Series with Dr. Kwame McKenzie, Mar. 31, 2023
    Join a conversation with Dr. Kwame McKenzie, CEO of Wellesley Institute and Professor of Psychiatry at U of T, on how family doctors and primary care providers can better link their work in education, research, and quality improvement to the social determinants of health, and how to partner with organizations that serve communities to be more socially accountable in their work. Learn more here.

    Primary care data reports for OHTs, Mar. 29, 2023

    Hosted by INSPIRE-PHC. Primary Care Data Reports for all OHTs are available here. Join here.

  • Solutions for Rapid Utilization of MHA Funding & Preliminary Survey Reminder

    Dear Executive Directors/Administrative Leads,
     
    Thank you for all your hard work with the one-time MHA funding that you received early this year.
     
    We recognize that short timelines and capacity constrains pose challenges with utilizing funding, so with our partners we have created a resource with a detailed list of recommendations to support you. Please see “Solutions for Rapid Implementation of MHA Funding for Primary Care Teams”. You may find this guidance helpful in addition to the previous guidance we shared.
     
    If you haven’t already, please also click here to fill out the 5-7 minute preliminary scoping survey about this MHA funding, which is helping to identify the value and spectrum of your work (survey deadline extended to March 31). Your responses will help shape the final evaluation of this MHA funding that will follow in April. Your contributions and survey participation can help build a strong case for renewed and sustained Mental Health and Addictions funding for primary care teams across Ontario.

    We hope this resource is helpful both for utilizing this funding and for your ongoing work. Thank you in advance for all your effort and contributions.

    If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Abisola Otepola.

  • QI in Action eBulletin #127: Nutrition Month

    QI in Action eBulletin #127: Nutrition Month

    In this Issue:

     

    • Nutrition month resources
    • Food for thought
    • NEW- Eating Disorders Quality Standard
    • NEW- Surgical Site Infections Quality Standard
    • Share your experience and inform future prenatal care innovations
    • Upcoming Events

    Nutrition month resources
    This month we join our Registered Dietitians in celebrating the impact of good nutrition on our patients’ health outcomes. Examples successfully integrating this focus in primary care teams include:

    Webinars and conference sessions

    Posters

    Select Resources

    Food for Thought

    NEW- Eating Disorders Quality Standard
    Ontario Health’s Eating Disorders quality standard consists of nine quality statements that describe what high quality care looks like for people with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. It applies to all care settings and the accompanying patient guide and caregiver guide can help inform conversations between health care providers and people with an eating disorder and their families and caregivers. Find out more.

    NEW- Surgical Site Infections Quality Standard
    Ontario Health’s latest quality standard consists of seven quality statements highlighting key areas for improvement to prevent surgical site infections for people having surgery that requires an incision. Its accompanying patient guide can help inform conversations between health care providers and people having surgery. Find out more.

    Share your experience and inform future prenatal care innovations

    Share your experience with us and inform future prenatal care innovations

     

    BORN and Prenatal Screening Ontario are funded by the Ministry of Health with mandates focused on improving the health outcomes of individuals during and after pregnancy. Prenatal Screening Ontario, who currently oversees aneuploidy screening, is expanding its reach to offer high-quality prenatal screening for conditions amenable to populated-based screening to better inform care and prenatal management.

    They want to hear about your experiences caring for pregnant individuals. Interviewees will receive a $50 gift card as a token of their appreciation. Sign up here.

     

    Upcoming Events

    Surgical Site Infections: A New Quality Standard for High-Quality Care in Ontario
    Apr 13, 2023, 12:00pm
    This session will introduce Ontario Health’s recently released Surgical Site Infections quality standard and describe how it can drive quality improvement and improve care for Ontarians across the health system. Register here.

    Eating Disorders: A New Quality Standard for High-Quality Care in Ontario
    May 5, 2023, 12:00pm
    This session will introduce Ontario Health’s recently released Eating Disorders quality standard and describe how it can drive quality improvement and improve care for Ontarians across the health system. Register here.

    QI Innovations: Better Data, Better Decisions, Better Outcomes
    April 18, 2023
    This year’s free QI Innovations conference is for mental health and addiction providers and system planners who are interested in data driven decision making and quality improvement. Register here.

     

    In Case You Missed It: Check out eBulletin #126 or other back issues here!
    Questions? Comments? Contact us at improve@afhto.ca.

     

  • Bits & Pieces: inclusive community grants and more

    Bits & Pieces: inclusive community grants and more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Applications open for 2023-24 Inclusive Community Grants
    • Member stories
    • Infant Moderna shelf-life extension, Canada investing in Long COVID research and more
    • Join the Ontario First Trimester Preeclampsia Screening Task Force- deadline Mar. 15
    • Call for expression of interest: Ontario MHA Oversight Table
    • It’s never too early to begin preparing for National Advance Care Planning Day
    • Community Legal Education Ontario wants to understand your legal needs
    • Upcoming events including Pharmacists’ Expanded Scope – and What it Means for Appropriate Prescribing, and more

     

    Applications open for 2023-24 Inclusive Community Grants
    Members and/or partners may be eligible for Inclusive Community Grants. The grants provide municipalities, non-profit organizations, and Indigenous communities with up to $60,000 for local projects that will help older residents and people with disabilities participate in community life. Deadline April 20, 2023. Find out more here.

    MPP Robin Martin stands with MD, social worker and pharmacist and leadership team at North York FHT and their Board Chair in front of windows in a room. All are masked.

     

    Member stories

    North York FHT – MPP for Eglinton-Lawrence and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health Robin Martin visited North York FHT last week.

    Picture left: MPP Robin Martin with physician, social worker, pharmacist, leadership team and Board Chair at North York FHT.

     

     

    Infant Moderna shelf-life extension, Canada investing in Long COVID research and more

    Recent updates include:

    We continue to update multiple pages on our site with resources and news:

    Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates– the original page, with news and updates. You can find links to related pages here as well.

    Join the Ontario First Trimester Preeclampsia Screening Task Force- deadline Mar. 15

    Prenatal Screening Ontario (PSO) is seeking experts to join the First-Trimester Preeclampsia Screening Task Force to advise on implementation considerations for first-trimester preeclampsia screening, should it be made available in Ontario. This is a short-term task force (find terms of reference here). To apply, fill out this survey and forward your CV to PSO@bornontario.ca  by Mar. 15, 2023.

    Call for expression of interest: Ontario MHA Oversight Table

    Ontario Health has sent out a Call for Expression of Interest for members of the Mental Health and Addictions Oversight Table. The table will define, guide, monitor and lead the development and delivery of standardized, high quality mental health and addictions services to address the needs of Ontarians per the mandate of the Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence.

    The table will have input from the Clinical Council, the Planning and Performance Council and other, more focused, Centre of Excellence advisory tables, and the broader mental health and addictions stakeholders across Ontario. Senior clinical and administrative system leaders are invited to submit an expression of interest as a member of the Oversight Table. Please see the Call for Expression of Interest and terms of reference for more information. Submissions should be sent by Friday, March 24, 2023 to mhacoe@ontariohealth.ca.

    It’s never too early to begin preparing for National Advance Care Planning Day

    Content provided by Hospice Palliative Care Ontario

    National Advance Care Planning Day is on April 16, 2023, and Hospice Palliative Care Ontario has tools and resources to help you prepare.

    The Person-Centred Decision-Making Online Learning Portal was developed to assist you with having Advance Care Planning conversations and Goals of Care discussions with your patients. This program is intended to increase awareness and knowledge as well as build capacity across Ontario’s health care system. If you are a health professional or administrator and are interested in learning about Advance Care Planning, Health Care Consent, and Goals of Care, you can access the course here.

    We also have resources to support you whether you plan on providing an educational event within your organization or community, or plan on having a conversation with your patients. The guides, posters, postcards, wallet cards, and bookmarks are great resources to incorporate into your Advance Care Planning Day initiatives or ongoing conversations.

    To encourage these important conversations, all orders placed on materials until March 31 at 4:00 P.M. will be provided with a discount of 20% off. Visit our website to order materials.

    Community Legal Education Ontario wants to understand your legal needs

    Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) is launching a survey to get a picture of the legal needs of nonprofits relating to governance, employment law, and privacy/record keeping. By participating, you will be helping to inform CLEO about the legal supports your organization needs. The survey has 15 questions and should take about 15 minutes. Please take a moment to complete the survey. To learn more about the Nonprofit Law Ontario project, visit nonprofitlaw.cleo.on.ca.

    Pharmacists’ Expanded Scope – and What it Means for Appropriate Prescribing, Mar. 22, 2023

    In several provinces, the scope of pharmacist prescribing has expanded, enabling them to assess and prescribe treatments for common syndromes. With other provinces and territories expected to adopt similar approaches, how do we support pharmacists, physicians, and other healthcare professionals in promoting resource stewardship and appropriate prescribing practices? Hosted by Choose Wisely Toronto. Find out more here.

    Journey with depression: Experiences accessing treatment and services, Mar. 23, 2023
    Virtual town hall hosted by ODPRN Citizens’ Panel with Dr. Noah Ivers. Find out more here.

    Together We Care 2023, Mar. 27- 29, 2023
    Together We Care is the largest and most comprehensive learning and networking experience for professionals in long-term care and retirement living. Find out more here.

    Engaging primary care – from the inside out, Mar. 24, 2023
    Part of the OHT Impact Fellows- Knowledge Translation Lunch and Learn Series. Register here.

    DFCM New Horizons Speaker Series with Dr. Kwame McKenzie, Mar. 31, 2023
    Join a conversation with Dr. Kwame McKenzie, CEO of Wellesley Institute and Professor of Psychiatry at U of T, on how family doctors and primary care providers can better link their work in education, research, and quality improvement to the social determinants of health, and how to partner with organizations that serve communities to be more socially accountable in their work. Learn more here.

    Primary care data reports for OHTs, Mar. 29, 2023

    Hosted by INSPIRE-PHC. Primary Care Data Reports for all OHTs are available here. Join here.

  • Farewell Message from Kavita Mehta, Outgoing CEO of AFHTO

    Farewell Message from Kavita Mehta, Outgoing CEO of AFHTO

    Kavita Mehta is smiling. Her hair is down to below her shoulders and blends in with her black top.

    Dear members, colleagues, partners, and friends,

    It is hard to put down in words just how difficult it was to write this message to an amazing group of people who I have had the pleasure of working with, and learning from, over my many years in primary care.

    I don’t even really know where to start. I started my journey in primary care, specifically with primary care teams, 17 years ago and it has been an absolute privilege to be part of a sector that continually does everything they can to provide exceptional care to patients, their families, and communities. We know primary care is the foundation of the health care system and working from the policy angle from my time at the Ministry to the operational level during my time as an Executive Director of a family health team to now here at AFHTO with an advocacy lens, it just highlights to me that a sustainable health care system MUST start and end with strong primary care.

    I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your best wishes as I step into this next chapter of my professional life. Your emails and phone calls have been truly uplifting and I appreciate your kind words – these relationships matter a lot, and I am thankful for the opportunity to have met so many great people along the way.

    • To everyone on our member teams – it is always astounding to see how much primary care gets done, even when there are not a lot of supports or even understanding of what primary care truly is. Thank you for your leadership, your engagement, and your ongoing commitment to AFHTO – your stories, your innovations, your passion is what drives the organization and for that I am truly grateful.
    • To the many partners I have had the privilege of working with – I want to thank you for your partnership and collaboration as we work towards creating a much more integrated health care system. I especially want to thank my partners in the Primary Care Collaborative. Working together to create that unified voice with like minded individuals who are truly passionate about creating a sustainable and equitable health care system that is foundationally based in primary care is truly motivating and inspiring.
    • To my colleagues in the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health – thank you for always being readily accessible and available as we collectively navigate towards rebuilding our health care system where primary care, through the lens of the quintuple aim, is prioritized and supported. I know it is not an easy task and I am grateful for your ongoing commitment at ensuring we have a voice.
    • To the AFHTO Board members, new and those who have been around for a while – thank you for always being there, always willing to jump in and provide support and guidance when it was needed and when times were tough, always being that compassionate ear.
    • And then finally, to the small but mighty AFHTO team! We say that a lot, but I think a lot of people are always surprised by how much we get done with such a small team. It has been a true honour to work with each and every one of you and I know that your collaborative spirt and willingness to always jump in to support our members is as important to you as it was to me. There are no other words than thank you.

    Without our member teams, our amazing board members, our partners and most importantly, the AFHTO team, it would have been very difficult to do this job. After all, we always say #ItTakesATeam to deliver the best care but it also takes a team to develop solutions and work towards policy that ensures we develop roadmaps to deliver better care, with primary care at the centre. Now, more than ever, we are seeing a lot of discussion around creating more primary care teams and I feel that there is momentum like we have not seen in many years. The pendulum is shifting!

    I am truly grateful for everyone’s support, guidance and partnership over the years – health care is a truly small space so I am sure our paths will cross again. Please take care of yourselves and each other and a very warm thank you!

    Kavita signature

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Kavita Mehta
    CEO, AFHTO

  • $30 million new/expansion funding for teams

    Dear Executive Directors/Administrative Leads,

    On Feb 2nd we shared Minister Jones launch of the Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care. This plan includes an investment of $30 million to create up to 18 new teams and help bridge the gap in accessing interprofessional primary care for vulnerable, marginalized, and unattached patients to ensure they are able to connect to care where and when they need it. While the number of 18 was noted in the plan, the Ministry may also be looking at expansion of EXISTING teams and new satellite locations and will share their expectations as they work through their internal planning.

    As we await further information around next steps in the funding implementation process, we encourage all teams to begin thinking about and preparing for the call for proposals. We expect Ministry/OH will release guidance documents towards the end of March with a submission timeline of end of April. We have requested Ministry/OH to provide a technical briefing and review of the relevant documents and process once finalized. We will share the date of this webcast once confirmed.

    To get an idea of what the application template MIGHT look like, here is the link to the 2017-19 IPC Team Expansion Business Case Template. We anticipate the new application process will be similar in terms of structure and big categories for content. Below are also number of principles from the previous process that you may want to keep in mind to help create a successful submission:

    Planning Principles

    • Readiness for early implementation
    • Population health based planning approach
    • Promote equitable access to interdisciplinary primary care across the OHT
    • Enhance access to appropriate, linguistically and culturally sensitive care and services
    • Engage patients and caregivers in planning
    • Integrate and collaborate with local health, social and community service providers
    • Develop model for comprehensive, continuous and coordinated care
    • Enhance attachment, accessibility and timeliness of primary care
    • Enhanced quality improvement and safety
    • Reduce barriers to access to care for vulnerable populations (e.g., Francophone and Indigenous populations)
    • In areas where teams exist, it would be optimal to leverage these existing teams to minimize administrative costs and expend the majority of the allocation on direct patient care.

    Implementation Principles

    • Services/programs reflect OHT population health needs
    • Services/programs are open to the wider community (i.e. populations beyond the rostered or registered patients)
    • Patient and community engagement is a component of planning and governance
    • Health equity is a focus of programs/services
    • Increased programming that is planned and delivered in a culturally sensitive manner, with special focus on addressing the needs of disadvantaged communities, including Indigenous peoples and Francophone Ontarians in Ontario
    • Focus on quality, including reporting on key performance indicators
    • Governance structure that includes community members to ensure local population needs are met
    • Improved attachment and access to primary care across OHT
    • Embedded care coordination and care navigation in primary care settings

    Please also note that the $30M is inclusive of increases in base funding for those teams experiencing overhead budget pressures – the process for increases in your base budget will be included in your annual operating plan which is set to be released imminently. Please make sure you join Fernando Tavares for a Q&A on March 28th @ 12:00pm where he will also touch upon the process to apply for increased base funding and provide an overview of this year’s annual operating plan and governance attestation documents. Register here.

    As always, please contact us if you have any questions.

  • Register Now – New Governance Support Available

    Hello EDs/Admin leads, board chairs, and lead clinicians,

    We’ve got all your Governance Training needs covered! Please see the Governance courses, webcast and training sessions available through AFHTO below:

    Provincial Webcast: Governing Through Complexity
    As a result of COVID-19, the implementation of Ontario Health Teams, HHR challenges, capacity and access constraints, and the shift to a population based approach, the pace of change has been quick and for many governors of primary health care teams the question remains: “What is the role of our board in this changing environment? How do we strengthen our governance practices? Where should we focus our efforts?”? This provincial webcast will help explore these questions and equip board members with the necessary knowledge to lead effectively and implement high functioning governance practices.

    Facilitators:       

    Dr. Rob Annis | Family Physician & AFHTO Board Member
    North Perth Family Health Team
    Bryn Hamilton | Interim CEO
    Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario

    DATE: April 4th 12:00-1:30pm

    AFHTO/David Hartley Partnership
    Many of you are familiar with David Hartley’s particular expertise in primary care governance, so we are excited to share AFHTO’s partnership with him! David will offer his ‘Best Practice FHT Board Governance Training’ to teams on a 50/50 cost shared arrangement with AFHTO. This is $1350 in savings for teams! Up to 20 teams will receive Training in the form of either: 1) Virtual Option: 2 X 90 minute virtual training sessions (the sessions can be spread out 2 months). Cost per team = $1350; 2) In-Person Option: 3 hours at a location of your choosing. Cost per team = $1850

    More details on the resources and course content are available here.

    AFHTO/Charity Village Partnership
    We are pleased to announce a continued partnership with Charity Village to offer our teams a range of free governance courses. Over 100 members across 25 teams took advantage of these sessions last year with overwhelmingly positive feedback. We have added to the course offerings this year to ensure a broad range of topics to choose from.  

    Each course is chock full of solid information and practical resources that you can download and keep on hand for future reference. Courses are offered virtually in a self paced format. You have 3 months to complete the course once started. Below is a list of courses teams may choose from.

    1. Better Board Kit
    This is a three-part series which includes a 1.5 hr online, on-demand Boards that Work course + a Board Self Evaluation Survey + a Facilitation Guide that will walk your board through a planning session based on the survey results. The Boards that Work kit is available for up to 10 board members.

    For more information, please visit this page. This is a great refresher for all board members and a good way to complete the board evaluation that’s required as part of your governance attestation!

    2. Governing your Organization: A Deeper Dive
    Building on the foundations established in the Boards That Work course, this is a 2 hour on-demand course. For more information, please visit this page.

    3. Diversity, Sensitivity, and Inclusion Training: Promoting Anti-Discrimination and Equity in the Workplace
    This is an on-demand course that will take approximately 1-2 hours to complete. For more information, please visit this page.

    4. IDEA
    This module introduces core concepts and principles to help you establish foundational knowledge of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA). For more information, please visit this page.

    5. OHSA and AODA Compliance Training Package (Available for Managers and/or Employees)
    Compliance training regarding Harassment, Health & Safety and Accessibility are mandatory for all non-profit organizations. Ensure your organization is protected from risk and non-compliance by signing up. For more information, please visit this page (managers) or this page (employees).

    If you are interested in any of the courses or training listed above, please click here.

    Setting the Cornerstone: A Blueprint for the Implementation of PCNs in Ontario Discussion document

    And finally, in our efforts to strengthen overall governance practices and models by enabling horizontal integration of the primary care sector, we are pleased to share with you the concept discussion paper developed specifically for the Ministry of Health that outlines preliminary recommendations for the establishment of Primary Care Networks (or PCNs) in Ontario. Developed jointly with AFHTO/OCFP/SGFP, the Blueprint provides an important opportunity to strengthening our province’s primary care system.

    We respectfully acknowledge that further consultation with our members and key stakeholders representative of the sector is required to refine the recommendations being presented. We hope that by sharing the document it will be considered a starting point for discussions between the Ministry of Health, Ontario Health and representative of the primary care sector. With any changes it is critical that we work in co-design and all voices are heard. We will keep all members updated as conversations unfold.

     
    Any questions, feel free to reach out! We hope you find these offerings helpful as we continue to elevate our governance practices across teams.

  • Bits & Pieces: teams expanding and more

    Bits & Pieces: teams expanding and more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Member stories
    • Happy Pharmacy Appreciation Month
    • Social Work Week
    • Measles preparedness and more
    • Member renewal emails sent
    • Q & A with Fernando Tavares for EDs, Mar. 28
    • Nominate high performing early career family physicians
    • Farewell card for Kavita- sign before Friday
    • Ontario Health’s Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence Update — March 2023
    • Upcoming events including Head and Neck Cancer: A Vaccine Preventable Disease and more

     

    Member stories

    Belleville NPLC- Belleville NPLC to get additional funding

    City of Kawartha Lakes FHT – City of Kawartha Lakes FHT offering urgent care clinics for residents without a doctor or nurse practitioner

    Ottawa Valley FHT – Family health team expansion improves primary care for Carleton Place and Beckwith residents

    Village FHT – How Ontario’s new health-care deal could change the way your family doctor works

    Discover the power of pharmacy

     

    Happy Pharmacy Appreciation Month

    March is Pharmacy Appreciation Month! We would  like to thank all our teams’ pharmacists for their invaluable contributions to comprehensive patient care and for always being there to provide guidance and support. Happy Pharmacist appreciation month!

     

    Recognizing Social Wokers Across Ontario

     

     

    Social Work Week

    It’s Social Work Week in Ontario, and we’d like to thank our teams’ social workers, who have worked tirelessly to support their patients and communities. You can show your appreciation too, with resources from OASW.

     

     

     

    Measles preparedness and more

    Recent updates include:

    We continue to update multiple pages on our site with resources and news:

    Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates– the original page, with news and updates. You can find links to related pages here as well.

    Member renewal emails sent

    Member renewal emails have now been sent to all teams. Thank you to all our members for your participation as we work together to make things better for both primary care teams, your patients, and your communities. Emails were sent to the leadership triad and administration where previously directed. If you have any questions, please contact info@afhto.ca.

    Q & A with Fernando Tavares for EDs, Mar. 28

    We’re pleased to announce that Fernando will join us for another Q&A session to provide a brief update on the Annual Operating Plan (submission timelines + process), discuss further details on the FHT contract extension including updates to the Governance & Attestation document, and review details of the “Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care” investment of $30 million to help bridge the gap in accessing interprofessional primary care. All EDs are invited to attend the session on March 28th @ 12:00pm. Register here.

    Nominate high performing early career family physicians

    Dr. Monica Aggarwal at the University of Toronto is conducting a study that will identify the key capabilities and competencies of high-performing family medicine graduates. This will help inform how learning, teaching and assessment can be improved in family medicine residency programs in Canada.

    She’s looking for nominations for high-performing early-career family physicians (based on the criteria identified here). If you have a nominee, please contact monica.aggarwal@utoronto.ca.

    Farewell card for Kavita- sign before Friday
    If you would like to join us in wishing our current CEO Kavita Mehta farewell with your own best wishes, please leave your message to her on this e-card before her last day this Friday, March 10, 2023: https://ellacard.com/sign/6166bcff-87e1-4bd2-bcb6-fdae8226a1a7.

    Ontario Health’s Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence Update — March 2023
    Topics include Indigenous Mental Health and Equity and QI Innovations: Better Data, Better Decisions, Better Outcomes, a free virtual conference in April. Find out more here.

    Head and Neck Cancer: A Vaccine Preventable Disease, Mar. 7, 2023
    Speaker:
    Dr. Vivien Brown, Family Physician, Toronto, Ontario

    Moderator:
    Dr. Christine Palmay, Family Physician, Toronto, Ontario

    Special Guest Speaker:
    Dr. Cheryl Cable, BSc, DDS, MBA, FRCD(C), Prosthodontist and Maxillofacial Prosthodontist, Associate Professor University of Alberta, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

    Find out more here.

    OHT supports events, Mar. 9-24, 2023

    Hosted by RISE:

    Celebrating Social Prescribing: A Virtual Tour Across Canada, Mar. 9, 2023
    On International Social Prescribing Day 2023, join social prescribing leaders from across Canada for a whistle-stop tour around the country to celebrate and be inspired by the current state of this work and emerging opportunities in different regions. Register here.

    Together We Care 2023, Mar. 27- 29, 2023
    Together We Care is the largest and most comprehensive learning and networking experience for professionals in long-term care and retirement living. Find out more here.

    Primary care data reports for OHTs, Mar. 29, 2023

    Hosted by INSPIRE-PHC. Primary Care Data Reports for all OHTs are available here. Join here.

  • Belleville Nurse Practioner-Led Clinic receiving additional funding

    Inquinte.ca  Published an article March 03, 2023

    By Nicole Kleinsteuber

    The Ontario government is investing in the hiring of more nurse practitioners to expand access to primary care within the Quinte Region.

    MPP Todd Smith announced on Friday the Ministry of Health is providing the Belleville Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic up to $209,800 in additional base funding for 2022-2023 and up to $839,200 in annualized funding starting in 2023-2024.  The investment will support the hiring of 2.6 additional nurse practitioner positions, 1.5 administration positions, a registered nurse and a social worker.  By increasing staffing levels at the Belleville Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, Smith said they can ensure about 2,000 more people will see primary care practitioners.

    “This is a great first step in trying to solve our primary care shortage in the Quinte Region,” he said following the announcement.  “Anytime you have the opportunity to attach 2,000 people in the Quinte Region to a primary care provider that’s great.  “There is still a lot of work to do but there are going to be more of these good news announcements coming in the near future.”

    Karen Clayton-Babb, the Chief Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Director at the Belleville Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic called the funding announcement “very exciting.”  

    “We are thrilled because we have been working on this for the past five years so we are very delighted to have this new funding,” she said.  “Similar to other communities across Ontario thousands of residents are unattached to primary care and the number continues to grow; therefore, this new investment for the expansion of  the Belleville Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, is a step in the right direction to transform the lives of residents who have been without primary care for many years.”

    The current location in downtown Belleville has four nurse practitioners serving 2,700 patients throughout the Bay of Quinte and surrounding areas.  When the BNPLC submitted a proposal for funding to the province it was for a new satellite office, however, they are “having some challenges with that” and work continues on where the future location will be.

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  • Ottawa Valley FHT expansion announcement of Carleton Place Regional Health Hub

    Lanarkleedstoday Published an article March 03, 2023

    The Carleton Place Regional Health Hub is going from a dream to reality when shovels hit the ground this fall.

    14 existing family physicians across Beckwith and Carleton Place will operate under one roof providing residents access to programs offered by the Ottawa Valley Family Health Team (OVFHT).

    OVFHT Executive Director Peter Hamer says the initial reaction from the local physicians were a mixed bag.

    The 40,000 square feet of space on a 15,000 square feet footprint will be on Costello Drive, a prime location for this facility, Hamer says

    He adds it took five years of work to get to this point, and they hope to have doors open by next September.

    This was made possible through $1.2 million in annual provincial funding and $1.7 million over ten years between Carleton Place and Beckwith.

    CTV video here

    Click here for full article from Lanarkleedstoday

    Additional article from Inside Ottawa Valley