Ultimate Blogging Championship

Tag: Access to Care

  • Pause of first doses of AstraZeneca/COVIDSHIELD Update

    Pause of first doses of AstraZeneca/COVIDSHIELD Update

    In This Issue:

    • Pause of first doses of AstraZeneca/COVIDSHIELD Update
    • mRNA Vaccines in Primary Care
    • Ontario Matching Portal
    • COVID-19 vaccination clinic workflow and mass upload tips & tricks
    • Community of Practice: Primary Care Participation
    • COVID@Home
    • A Big Thank You!

    Dear Members,

    You have probably already heard that the Ontario government announced on May 11th that primary care and pharmacy are to pause on the further use of the AstraZeneca (AZ)/COVISHIELD COVID-19 vaccines as first doses to eligible individuals. This announcement was made out of an abundance of caution and after carefully reviewing cases of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), linked to the AZ vaccine. For the full Ministry announcement please click here.

    There are still so many unknowns around next steps, including if those who received first dose AZ will be eligible to receive a second dose of AZ at a shortened interval if they have certain health conditions or are nearing the mark when they are due for their second dose. We are awaiting direction from the Ministry of Health about what to do and will send information as soon as it is available.

    In the meantime, here are two immediate things you should do if you are administering AZ in your office:

    • Please keep any remaining AZ vaccines in your fridge and safe. More details are coming from the MOH about how these vaccines will be returned or if they can be used with certain populations.
    • Please ensure any patients booked to receive AZ are cancelled. They should be rescheduled to receive a mRNA vaccine when these are available.

    And for many of you who may be getting anxious calls from your patients, here are two documents you can adapt for your practice:

    • Clinic message developed by the Ontario College of Family Physicians that you can send by letter/email to your patients
    • Email developed by Dr. Noah Ivers at Women’s College Hospital that you can also send to patients that have received first dose AZ in your clinics

    Now more than ever, primary care has a critical role to play to strengthen confidence in vaccination. Here are some additional resources you may find helpful:

    mRNA Vaccines in Primary Care

    • Along with other primary care associations, we have been calling for the use of mRNA (Pfizer and Moderna) vaccines in primary care.
    • The province is receiving an increase of Moderna vaccines and by the end of May 60,000 doses of this mRNA vaccine are expected to be delivered across all 34 public health units which will then be provided to primary care settings.
    • The allocation to the public health units is based on per capita population and hot spot areas.
      Do you have any experience with mRNA vaccines in your clinics? We want to hear from you, especially if you have given the Pfizer vaccine so we can highlight the successes in primary care and advocate for more mRNA vaccines in primary care!
      Medical Officers of Health will continue to make decisions around which primary care sites will receive the vaccine to administer and we will provide you updates as they become available.  If you are having trouble connecting with your PHU please let us know and we can try to facilitate.
    • We hope this is a first step, and we will continue to advocate for an expanded role for more primary care practices to be included in the vaccination rollout. We know there are still many patients who need the vaccine who have yet to receive it. And we know we are in the best position in primary care to identify these patients.

    Ontario Matching Portal
    The Ontario Matching Portal (OMP) was created during Wave I to match employers with job seekers interested in supporting the pandemic response. Initially developed to support redeployment of volunteers and health care professionals to Long-Term Care facilities, the portal has now been extended to support the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. With an expansion of use, all health care organizations can now register to use OMP as part of a comprehensive health human resources (HHR) strategy for the COVID-19 vaccination effort. With over 6,023 people who have signed up to support vaccination across the province, your team can register as an organization and access volunteers to help with administration or health care providers to support vaccination within your teams. To learn more see:

    We are talking to the Ministry about hopefully hosting a webinar/didactic walk-through of the Portal for our teams but in the meantime, please let us know if you have any questions.  

    COVID-19 vaccination clinic workflow and mass upload tips & tricks
    As we had noted in this week’s Bits & Pieces newsletter, we are pleased to have launched two new resources for teams to help with workflow in their clinics. As teams move from pilot COVID-19 vaccination clinics to mass vaccination clinics, drive-thru vaccination clinics and in-clinic vaccinations, we have put together a document geared towards the Super User, with some tips and tricks. With a big thank you to Windsor FHT, Hamilton FHT, Upper Grand FHT, London FHT and many more this document summarizes some of the lessons learned. 

    We have also put together a Mass Client Upload Workflow document in collaboration with the QI in PC Council, with tips and tricks for data extraction, manipulation, and upload.You can also read more in last week’s eBulletin.

    Community of Practice: Primary Care Participation
    Just a reminder that you can join the Primary Care Vaccine Quality Improvement Support Group Webinar Series Community of Practice being led by Ontario Health in partnership with the Primary Care Collaborative and OMA. This CoP covers very practical tips and suggestions on how to set up your vaccination sites as we look at further primary care sites participating in vaccination.

    COVID@Home
    You would have received an email from the Ministry today with a reminder about the COVID@Home program. As we are still waiting for answers to some of our questions from our April 23rd COVID@Home webinar, just a reminder that Ontario Health is providing tools and resources for COVID@Home to interprofessional primary care teams.

    COVID@Home aims to help primary care providers and interprofessional teams to remotely monitor their patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 in the community safely. If you have an already existing remote monitoring program in your region, please continue to support those local efforts – this program is to help address any gaps that may be in existence.

    Information about COVID@Home, including clinical and escalation pathways, can be found here and the following link will enable you to order oxygen saturation monitors at no cost. Ontario Health is holding Community of Practice meetings Wednesday mornings from 8:00 am – 9:00 am if you would like to learn more, ask questions, and hear from teams doing this work. You can register for the meeting series and attend as able.

    A Big Thank You!
    We know how hard primary care worked to get as many #NeedlesInArms over the last few months and the tremendous amount of work that goes into counselling and educating your patients before vaccinating. Thank you for all that you do and please let us know what is going on in your team so we can highlight when we meet with government.

    We look forward to continually updating you on the provincial vaccination strategy. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or ideas.

    Yours in good health,

    The AFHTO Team

  • Arnprior & District FHT, VTAC and COVID-19 vaccination drive through clinics

    Arnprior & District FHT, VTAC and COVID-19 vaccination drive through clinics

    Arnprior & District Family Health Team continues to support COVID-19 efforts

     

    April 23, 2021 – Arnprior & District Family Health Team (ADFHT) has been hard at work supporting local residents in addressing their needs as a result of the pandemic.    

    ADFHT is one of the key partner organizations taking the administrative lead in launching the Renfrew County Virtual Triage and Assessment Centre’s (VTAC) virtual bookings. This initiative was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is a partnership between ADFHT, Arnprior Regional Health (the hospital), Renfrew County Paramedics and the Renfrew County and District Health Unit.   

    2 health care workers at a patient's car

    VTAC was established to strengthen access to healthcare for all residents of Renfrew County during the pandemic so that the Emergency Departments and 9-1-1 services are reserved for genuine emergencies.

    This is done through having medical receptionists, family physicians/nurse practitioners on call through VTAC to provide assessment, treatment and the booking of COVID testing. 

    Remote monitoring of individuals at home who don’t require hospitalization but can be monitored and treated at home is also arranged and supported through VTAC. VTAC has both a live phone line that can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and also an online booking system to support individuals needing a covid test.

    The ADFHT employs all the receptionists, schedules all the testing, provides the back end administrative support, provides 24/7 management coverage, trouble shooting, manages urgent requests from the Health Unit related to testing and coordinates the physician schedules. Some of these costs are reimbursed through Assessment Centre funding provided to ARH by Ontario Health.

    cars at drive thru in arnprior

    In addition to the success of VTAC’s virtual bookings, ADFHT has also taken on a co-lead role in the COVID-19 Vaccination efforts, helping to organize and lead both Drive Through and onsite clinics for vaccination.

    The Drive Through Clinics are now being held in Arnprior every Thursday and  there are people all across the County and beyond who travel to the drive through clinics to experience the drive through model of vaccination. In the last two weeks alone, over 1,500 patients have been vaccinated in two drive through clinics.

     

    ADFHT, Arnprior Regional Health and County of Renfrew Paramedic Service continue to demonstrate the essential role of primary care in Arnprior while working in collaboration to support our local needs.

    overhead view of drive thru clinic

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Relevant Links:

  • April 27th Update on COVID-19 Vaccination Roll Out

    In This Issue:

    • Introduction including Ontario Science Table brief
    • Responding to Patient Concerns About the AstraZeneca Vaccine
    • Message from Ontario Health (Cancer Care) – Guidance for Primary Care & General Medical Imaging for Vaccine-related Adenopathy
    • COVaxON
    • Primary Care Community of Practice
    • New and Updated Resources

    Dear Members,
    We are writing to provide you with an update from our united Primary Care COVID-19 Vaccination Collaborative (PC-VAC*).  

    We know the last few weeks have been exceptionally challenging and you are all exhausted – we all share in your anger and frustration with how poor policy decisions have led us to this devastating third wave, but we are continually inspired with how much primary care continues to step up and support your patients, your community, your colleagues, and the health care system.

    Whether it’s pivoting to supporting vaccination or continuing with in-person care to prevent people going to hospitals, working in the assessment centres or, more recently, managing COVID@Home, primary care has been at the cornerstone of this pandemic.

    This brief from Ontario’s Science Table lays out very clearly the six things that will reduce transmission, protect our health care system, and allow us to re-open safely as soon as possible. As the Primary Care Collaborative we support these principles – specifically for fair, evidence-based measures that will limit the risk of illness for workers and their families, and to provide tools to help overcome other barriers to vaccination, such as hesitancy.

    While we also welcome the government walk back on the potential of introducing paid sick days, we still do not know any details on this. So, as we wait on details we are also requesting still further clarity on some of the additional measures that have been introduced. We will share more information as it becomes available.

    On April 23rd, the Ministry added Pregnant Individuals under the highest risk conditions in the Phase 2 prioritization guidance. While we wait for the updated Prioritization Guidance Document to reflect this change, you can read the memo that was sent to the PHUs from Dr. Dirk Huyer, Lead, Clinical Guidance and Surveillance Workstream. Additional updated information can be found below.

    Responding to Patient Concerns About the AstraZeneca Vaccine
    The OMA has developed key messages to help physicians address patient concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine, including the rare occurrence of vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (VIPIT).

    The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table has developed guidance for VIPIT for both Emergency Medicine/In-Patient Settings and Outpatient Settings, including a triage flowchart for diagnosis and recommendations for management. A lay summary is also available for physicians to refer to when speaking with their patients.

    Thrombosis Canada has put together this FAQ on COVID-19 vaccines and blood clots.

    OCFP has developed a message that can be used/adapted by your practice to update patients on use of the AZ vaccine, including questions about safety. The CEP also has tips for conversations  with your patients.

    NACI updated its recommendations on the use of authorized COVID-19 vaccines to incorporate its analysis of a rare but serious safety signal of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), following vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Also released was a summary of the  vaccine statement and the CCMOH also followed-up with a statement.

    Message from Ontario Health (Cancer Care) – Guidance for Primary Care & General Medical Imaging for Vaccine-related Adenopathy
    Axillary adenopathy has been reported as a common side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine. Due to the mass vaccination underway, it is expected to be increasingly found in breast and other imaging. Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) has developed guidance for primary care on COVID-19 vaccine-related adenopathy. The guidance provides recommendations on management of adenopathy detected during breast screening, general medical imaging, and patient detected adenopathy.

    COVaxON
    If you will be vaccinating in your clinic or would like to in the next phases of the rollout, we encourage you to sign up for COVaxON training on the OntarioMD website. Training will be scheduled on an ongoing basis. OntarioMD is suggesting that each practice have one or more (depending on the size of practice) member of their staff trained on the ‘End to End Training’ module.

    Primary Care Community of Practice
    Ontario Health (OH) and your primary care associations have collected resources and lessons learned through a series of Community of Practice meetings with the primary care pilot participants.

    Please join the Primary Care Vaccination CoP online forum for resources. If you have trouble signing up for Quorum, please message janine.theben@ontarioehealth.ca for assistance.

    If you’re participating in vaccination efforts and would like to learn from other primary care sites that are currently vaccinating please register for upcoming webinars. You can view the recording from the April 22 Community of Practice here.

    New and Updated Resources

    “Safer” vaccination site for those who are uninsured

    • Uninsured Network is developing a list of “safer” vaccination sites where migrants including undocumented residents can receive access to the vaccine in a safe, dignified way. Organizations and practices standing up vaccination sites can fill out their Declaration: Access Without Fear Access to Vaccines in Ontario form online if they are interested in implementing the recommended practices (as listed on the form), and be listed/promoted as a “safer” vaccination site.

    Multilingual resources

    • riomix.ca is a collaborative, centralized, and accessible repository of translated materials and multilingual websites relating to health and community care and support from Access Alliance. The resource library includes but is not limited to COVID-19 materials.

    Find resources from previous weeks here.

    We look forward to continually updating you on the provincial vaccination strategy. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or ideas.

    Yours in good health,

    The AFHTO Team

    *Ontario Primary Care COVID-19 Vaccination Collaborative Partners 

    • Alliance for Healthier Communities
    • Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario
    • Indigenous Primary Health Care Council
    • Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic Association
    • Ontario College of Family Physicians
    • Ontario Medical Association Section on General and Family Practice
    • Ontario’s Academic Chairs of Family Medicine
  • Bits & Pieces: respiratory care during COVID-19, Stay-at-Home order and more

    Bits & Pieces: respiratory care during COVID-19, Stay-at-Home order and more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Respiratory care during COVID-19: what have we learned one year later, Apr. 21
    • Ontario needs a Stay-at-Home order
    • Member stories
    • Lessons learned from KFLA Moderna community vaccination clinics and more
    • UpToDate discount reminder
    • Evaluation and performance improvement for OHTs CoP and webinar
    • Upcoming events including improving the population health of people at risk or living with diabetic foot complications and more

     

    Respiratory care during COVID-19: what have we learned one year later, Apr. 21

    The COVID-19 pandemic has required healthcare professionals to change the way care is delivered and has allowed for the development of innovative practices and partnerships for the continued provision of quality care.

    On April 21 this webinar, co-hosted with the Lung Health Foundation, will highlight practice changes and considerations for the diagnosis and management of chronic lung diseases such as COPD. This includes highlighting the challenges of respiratory diagnostics such as spirometry testing and policies and changes that were needed to provide a safe testing environment.

    Find out more and register here.

    Ontario needs a Stay-at-Home order

    Ontario needs a Stay-at-Home order, community vaccination plans, and paid sick leave for ALL workers to stop spread of COVID-19 variants, reduce the burden on health care.

    Today the Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) issued a statement urging the government to do more to suppress the transmission of COVID-19, including these 5 vital actions:

    1. Move the province from a shutdown to a stay-at-home order
    2. Ensure vaccines are reaching those who are most at risk for infection and who need them the most
    3. Prioritize vaccination of teachers, educators and school staff
    4. Create a broad education and communications campaign to address vaccine hesitancy
    5. Implement paid sick leave for all essential workers now.

    Read the full statement here.

    Member stories

    Dr. Allan Grill on CTV

    Markham FHT– our president and chair Dr. Allan Grill on CTV on protecting schools from outbreaks and more

    Multiple members- our Twitter thread highlighting members’ vaccine efforts. One tweet already has nearly 20,000 views!

    Lessons learned from KFLA Moderna community vaccination clinics and more

    Recent updates include:

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

    UpToDate discount reminder

    Thanks to our partnership with Wolters Kluwer, AFHTO members have access to special benefits on UpToDate®. Physicians, residents, NPs, pharmacists, and PAs are all eligible.  For more details, please contact your ED or Admin Lead.

    EDs and Admin Leads, if you have any questions, please email us at info@afhto.ca.

    Evaluation and performance improvement for OHTs CoP and webinar

    HSPN is hosting a new community for those working on evaluation and performance improvement in OHTs. You can join here.

    The next OHT Evaluation Webinar will be OHT Improvement Measures for Focus Populations on April 27. Register here

    Your role in improving the population health of people at risk or living with diabetic foot complications, April 15, 2021
    Co-hosted with Wounds Canada, this interactive webinar will provide an overview of your role to improve the population health of people at risk or living with diabetic foot complications across the full continuum of care settings to improve patient experience, outcomes and costs. Register here.

    Together We Care Virtual Conference, April 20-22, 2021
    Join the OLTCA & ORCA as they connect the LTC and retirement community sector to help shape the future of senior’s care.
    Find out more here.

    Building vaccine confidence in the Black community, evolving guidance, and more, Apr. 9, 2021

    The OCFP’s COVID-19 COP will focus on building vaccine confidence in the Black community.
    Find out more here.

    A Deep Dive into Co-Designing Care Models for your Priority Populations, May 6, 2021
    The RISE OHT webcasts will show how your OHT can re-design care for patients in your priority populations, and help every patient in those populations experience coordinated transitions between providers.
    Learn more here.

  • Ontario needs a Stay-at-Home order

    Ontario needs a Stay-at-Home order

    Primary Care Collaborative logos

     

    Ontario needs a Stay-at-Home order, community vaccination plans, and paid sick leave for ALL workers to stop spread of COVID-19 variants, reduce the burden on health care

    TORONTO – April 6, 2021 – Amid an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the Primary Care Collaborative shares concerns expressed by the Ontario Hospital Association, Ontario Medical Association, Registered Nurses Association of Ontario and other health care providers that the province needs stronger measures to curb the growing spread of the virus. Ontario’s Science Table has confirmed how dangerous the variants of concerns are, including an increased risks of serious illness and death. As the number of cases and hospitalizations increase daily, it is vitally important that Ontario enforce stricter public health measures and roll out policy initiatives to curb the spread of these deadly variants of the COVID-19 virus.

    We implore the government to listen to Ontario’s experts and those front-line health care workers seeing the devastation of COVID-19 in hospitals and communities first-hand.

    Instead of an emergency brake, which does little to stop the spread, we need a full stop now to suppress transmission of the virus and preserve the tenuous capacity of our ICUs in hospitals. Now is the time to intensify all efforts and employ an equity-lens to protect those most vulnerable and at risk from the virus. That is the clearest path through the toughest part of this pandemic. To do so, we strongly support and urge the government to take the following vital actions:

    1. Move the province from a shutdown to a stay-at-home order with people only leaving their homes for medical/health appointments, essential grocery shopping, outdoor exercise and essential work;
    2. Ensure vaccines are reaching those who are most at risk for infection and who need them the most; we need to prioritize essential workers, those with limited mobility/homebound and others with approaches that will get more vaccines in arms (in their communities, in their workplaces, in their homes); employ community-based, tailored approaches that focus vaccination efforts on communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic;
    3. Prioritize vaccination of teachers, educators and school staff to ensure we have #SafeSchools – use the upcoming spring break to vaccinate the education sector;
    4. Create a broad education and communications campaign to address vaccine hesitancy, using culturally sensitive and straight-forward messages to encourage vaccine confidence and directly address myths and misinformation;   
    5. Implement paid sick leave for all essential workers now. This is essential to ensuring businesses that remain open, such as warehouses, retail and others, can remain open safely for all workers while offering curbside pick-up and continuing essential work.

    Family Physicians, Nurse Practitioners and primary care providers continue to educate, collaborate, communicate, vaccinate and support the people we serve. But like their acute and home care colleagues, getting a handle on cases that are out of control in the community is not within their grasp. We need government leadership to support our ongoing work to protect the health of everyone in Ontario, and we need it urgently, because many health care providers are at a breaking point and our health system’s sustainability is at risk. In order to provide even a glimmer of hope in combatting this wave, we need to employ stricter public health measures now and protect all the citizens of Ontario, especially those most vulnerable. 

    Media contact for interview requests, comments or inquiries:      
    Paula Myers
    Manager, Membership and Communications
    Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario
    Email: paula.myers@afhto.ca
    Phone: (647) 234-8605 extension 1200

    About the Primary Care Collaborative (PCC):
    We are a coalition of primary care organizations collectively representing 14,000 family doctors, 1,000+ primary care nurse practitioners, 286 primary care teams, 28 Indigenous primary care teams, including northern, rural, and remote teams. This alliance of comprehensive primary care organizations joined together by common purpose to build on the collaborative work during the COVID-19 pandemic as we move towards recovery in a time of health system transformation. The PCC provides a collective and cohesive voice with the purpose of advancing equitable person-centred primary care in Ontario and is focused on influencing policy by creating a unified voice towards resolving barriers or challenges that prevent comprehensive primary care from being the foundation of the health system.

    Relevant Links:

  • April 5th Update on COVID-19 Vaccination Roll Out

    In This Issue:

    • Vaccinating in Primary Care
    • COVaxON
    • Primary Care Community of Practice
    • COVID@Home Monitoring for Primary Care
    • Provincial Antigen Screening Program
    • COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility EMR Searches
    • COVID-19 Learning Opportunities
    • New Resources
    • Relevant Ministry Guidance Documents for Primary Care

    Dear Members,
    We are writing to provide you with an update from our united Primary Care COVID-19 Vaccination Collaborative (PC-VAC*). March 26th key messages we shared with vaccine decision-makers can be found here.  

    The April 1st Update on COVID-19 Projections from the Science Table paints a very grim picture for the upcoming month. The third wave is here, and it is being driven by the Variants of Concern (VOC) where we are seeing younger Ontarians ending up in hospitals, with ICU beds at full capacity. The update also highlights that the vaccine rollout has not reached the highest risk communities where there are high rates of COVID-19.

    The Primary Care Collaborative had an opportunity to speak about the rollout challenges at the Associate Minister’s Collaboration Table with a deliberate ask – please employ an equity lens NOW and make sure vaccines are going to those who need it the most, in the communities where they live. Ensure primary care is front and center in that rollout to get more #NeedlesInArms.

    Vaccinating in Primary Care
    Ontario is expanding pharmacy and primary care locations for COVID-19 vaccinations. Approximately 120,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been allocated to public health and primary care practices in the 34 regions. The clinics have already heard or will hear directly from their public health units about when to expect the vaccines in their practices.

    We are currently working with government to ensure that all thirty-four public health units also allocate Moderna and other vaccines to primary care settings soon, learning from regions like Kingston, Frontenac, Lenox & Addington (KFLA) and Lambton where utilization of Moderna is part of the norm.

    COVaxON
    If you will be vaccinating in your clinic or are involved in future rollouts, please sign up for COVaxON training on the OntarioMD website. Training will be scheduled on an ongoing basis. OntarioMD is suggesting that each practice have one or more (depending on the size of practice) member of their staff trained on the ‘End to End Training’ module.

    Primary Care Community of Practice
    Ontario Health (OH) and your primary care associations have collected resources and lessons learned through a series of Community of Practice meetings with the primary care pilot participants. Please join the Primary Care Vaccination Pilot CoP online forum for resources. If you have trouble signing up for Quorum, please message janine.theben@ontarioehealth.ca for assistance.

    COVID@Home Monitoring for Primary Care
    Ontario Health is providing tools and resources for COVID@Home to help primary care providers who wish to remotely monitor people who have mild to moderate COVID-19 in the community. For further guidance on the implementation of this initiative at a site level, please refer to the Ontario Health resource toolkit COVID@Home Monitoring for Primary Care, which includes clinical pathways as well as instructions for the use and proper handling in collecting and disinfecting the monitors for use by the next patient.

    To request oxygen saturation monitors for the COVID@Home initiative, please complete the Oxygen Saturation Monitor Eligibility and Intake Form. Requests will then be reviewed for eligibility purposes by Ontario Health, prior to fulfilling requests. Please note that the Ministry of Health reserves the right to limit quantities as needed.

    Provincial Antigen Screening Program
    The Provincial Antigen Screening Program allows employers in priority settings to add an additional safety measure in high-risk and essential workplaces, to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Through the program, rapid antigen point-of-care tests (POCTs) can be distributed to primary care settings to enhance existing routine screening measures for asymptomatic employees and other identified groups.

    Rapid antigen POCTs may allow for workplaces to proactively identify cases of COVID-19 that may have otherwise been missed, supporting employee safety and business continuity in a variety of workplaces. In addition, primary care practices are also eligible to access the diagnostic point-of-care rapid testing with ID Now that can be used to diagnose COVID-19 in symptomatic patients. Please click here for more information or contact Heather Nichol if you have any questions.

    COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility EMR Searches
    The eHealth Centre of Excellence has updated the COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility EMR Searches for Telus PSS EMR. The COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility EMR Searches version 2.0 was built to service Phase 2 in the Ontario COVID-19 vaccination plan. You can find more information on this phase here, and can download the latest tool version here.

    If you are interested in further training or a review of the upgraded version, you can schedule a Coaching Session to answer any questions. All Coaching Sessions are free of charge and are accredited by CFPC for Mainpro+ CPD credits.
    COVID-19 Learning Opportunities

    Updated COVID-19 vaccination e-learning series

    • The COVID-19 vaccination e-learning series has been updated with a new module called “Emerging Topics”. The new module includes information on the impact of variants on vaccination, transmission post-vaccination, the four-month dosing interval, and the latest information about AstraZeneca and VIPIT. It is free to access following a short registration here.

    The COVID-19 Vaccine: Building vaccine confidence in the Black community, evolving guidance, and more
    The next Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) Community of Practice will be on Friday, April 9, 2021 at 8:00-9:00am (ET). They will be continuing our discussion on COVID-19 vaccines, this time focusing on building vaccine confidence in the Black community. As usual, the panelists will also be speaking about the latest changes in guidance and policy and answering the questions you have. Register here.

    New Resources:

    Relevant Ministry Guidance Documents for Primary Care:
    Below are the reference and guidance documents developed by the Ministry of Health that are relevant to primary care for your reference.

    Vaccine Prioritization Resources:

    1. Guidance for Prioritizing Health Care Workers for COVID-19 Vaccination
    2. Phase 2 Prioritization for COVID-19 Vaccination

     Health Care Provider Education Documents:

    1. COVID-19 Vaccine Approval Process and Safety
    2. About COVID-19 Vaccines
    3. COVID-19 Vaccine Availability and Rollout
    4. COVID-19 Vaccine Information Sheet
    5. Extension of the Second Dose Interval Memo

     General Immunization Documents for Patients:

    1. What you need to know about your COVID-19 vaccine appointment
    2. After Your COVID-19 Vaccine
    3. COVID-19 What you need to know V2.0

    General Immunization Documents for Immunizers and Vaccine Clinics:

    1. COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Operations Planning Checklist
    2. Vaccine Storage and Handling Guidance- Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 Vaccines
    3. Administration of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine
    4. Administration of Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine
    5. Administration of AstraZeneca COVID-19/COVISHIELD Vaccine
    6. COVID-19 Vaccination Recommendations for Special Populations
    7. COVID-19 Vaccination: Allergy Form

    Consent for COVID-19 Vaccination Documents:

    1. Pre-Screening Assessment Tool for Health Care Providers
    2. COVID-19 Vaccine Consent Form

    Find resources from previous weeks here.

    We look forward to continually updating you on the provincial vaccination strategy. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or ideas.

    Yours in good health,

    The AFHTO Team

    *Ontario Primary Care COVID-19 Vaccination Collaborative Partners 

    • Alliance for Healthier Communities
    • Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario
    • Indigenous Primary Health Care Council
    • Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic Association/Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario
    • Ontario College of Family Physicians
    • Ontario Medical Association Section on General and Family Practice
    • Ontario’s Academic Chairs of Family Medicine

  • Joint Letter on Vaccine dose intervals for Indigenous populations

    To:    Premier Doug Ford
    Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier, Minster of Health

    Cc:    Dr. Dirk Huyer, Coordinator, Provincial Outbreak Response
    Greg Rickford, Minister of Indigenous Affairs
    Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health (MOH)

    Re: Changes to dosing schedule for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution to Urban Indigenous populations

    March 26, 2021

    Dear Premier Ford and Minister Elliott,

    We write to you today, urgently, with regards to the announcement made on March 18, 2021 that, while on-reserve First Nations people will receive their second vaccine doses within 21-28 days, those living in urban areas will have to wait up to four months for their second doses.

    Indigenous adults were prioritized within the vaccine framework with good reason; due to historical health barriers linked to colonialism and continued pervasive anti-Indigenous racism, Indigenous people living everywhere in Ontario – on reserve and in urban areas – face health vulnerabilities that others living in Ontario do not. For those living in urban areas, this includes higher rates of homelessness and transient housing, overcrowded housing, and poor health status, among other factors. In addition, there are still many Indigenous people living in urban areas who have yet to receive their first shots. This sudden change to the priority of Indigenous people undercuts the confidence and trust in the vaccines themselves, and in the system that is distributing them, as well as the providers tasked with reaching marginalized Indigenous people. This is, simply put, unacceptable, and frankly avoidable.

    We are standing in solidarity with the Indigenous Primary Health Care Council and asking that, at bare minimum, those Indigenous people living in urban areas who’ve already received their first doses of vaccines be grandfathered in, and permitted to receive their second doses within 21-28 days. This allows for continuity of care, and confidence in this process and the vaccine itself.

    Premier, Minister, there is already mistrust mounting in Indigenous communities because of this confusion. There are different approaches being taken across Public Health Units, further adding to the potential for miscommunication and misinterpreted guidance. These moments risk seeing the spread of COVID-19 into First Nations communities, and creating more challenges for all. Urban Indigenous vaccine strategies must be delivered consistently across the province to avoid these ambiguities and variances in the delivery of COVID-19 care for the Indigenous population.
     
    As many Alliance members serve urban Indigenous populations across the province, alongside the members of the Indigenous Primary Health Care Council, we look forward to working with you to ensure that the clearest possible plan and strategies can be enabled to ensure the safety of all Indigenous communities in the province.

    Sincerely,

    Sarah Hobbs, CEO, Alliance for Healthier Communities
    Kavita Mehta, CEO, Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario Leanne Clarke, CEO, Ontario College of Family Physicians

    cc.:
    Shawn Batise, Deputy Minister, Indigenous Affairs
    Nadia Surani, Acting Director, Primary Care Branch, Ministry of Health

    See the pdf version here.

  • Joint Letter on Ensuring Equity in Ontario’s Vaccination Campaign

    March 1, 2021

    To: Premier Doug Ford
    Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier, Minister of Health

    Cc: General (Ret.) Rick Hillier, COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force
    Dr. Dirk Huyer, Coordinator, Provincial Outbreak Response
    Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health
    Alison Blair, Associate Deputy Minister, Pandemic Response and Recovery
    Patrick Dicerni, Assistant Deputy Minister
    Nadia Surani, Acting Director, Primary Care Branch
    Loretta Ryan, Executive Director, Association of Local Public Health Agencies

    Re: Ensuring Equity in Ontario’s Vaccination Campaign

    Dear Premier Ford and Minister Elliott,

    We are writing today as your partners in Ontario’s vaccination rollout plan. We have appreciated the opportunity to consult with the vaccine task force regularly over the last several months, and the recent meetings with Ret. General Hillier. We are encouraged by the leadership role of Public Health Units in the vaccine rollout, and know that health equity is a key consideration in General Hillier’s communications and in regional plans to ensure an efficient, equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. Our health professionals and teams stand ready to support #TeamVaccine in Ontario.

    As has been seen and talked about for some time among public health units, in media stories, and among community providers at the front lines of testing and community supports, COVID-19’s effects have not been felt equally in Ontario. We know that communities who’ve seen the highest rates of infections during the pandemic, the highest impacts on health and wellbeing, have been communities already marginalized before the pandemic hit, and for whom health and social services can be more difficult to access. We also know that it’s many of these people who will have difficulty accessing online or phone system booking, are home bound, or are otherwise hesitant or unable to visit mass vaccination clinics or pharmacies. Premier and Minister, we believe it is critical to have a plan to ensure that the people facing the most barriers and risks due to COVID-19 are given particular attention in vaccine plans.

    The good news is that throughout the pandemic, community health leaders and their partners have worked hard to build lines of trust, and to work with other community leaders, local ambassadors and others to ensure that their services, including testing and isolation supports, could reach people marginalized due to a variety of factors.

    From the experience of implementing COVID-19 testing, we know that one-size-fit-all mass vaccination clinics, even if accessibly located within priority neighbourhoods, will not be effective by themselves. Mobile testing clinics that deliver testing to the door, and smaller testing sites located in trusted community spaces, performed by trusted organizations, have been the keys to success. These lessons can be applied to ensure a successful and equitable rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

    Premier and Minister, we ask for your leadership in supporting all Public Health Units across Ontario to work with primary care to include and implement the following in the regional vaccination rollout:

    1. A comprehensive, multilingual, and culturally safe approach to addressing vaccine hesitancy and building vaccine confidence in communities where distrust and marginalization, as well as language and social barriers can play a role in vaccine uptake, by partnering with and resourcing community organizations that have existing lines with trust and have already been supporting COVID-19 response in these priority neighbourhoods. This might mean flyers in building lobbies, door-to-door visits, local language radios, leveraging faith leaders, and other high touch strategies that have already been used during testing and isolation campaigns in the hardest hit communities.
    2. A multi-pronged approach that builds access to the vaccine into existing partnerships, mobile units, community testing sites, and pop-up community campaigns with priority populations. This may include innovative solutions that were successful for testing, such as repurposing public buses to set up vaccination clinics outside of seniors’ residences, social housing, and isolated areas within the hardest hit postal codes.
    3. Collection, review, and reporting of race-based and socio-demographic data as the rollout takes place across marginalized communities to ensure that the people who are at the highest risk are being helped first by the vaccine, and to prevent future outbreaks. This type of collection and reporting will enable healthcare and community providers to know which of their clients require additional outreach immediately, and inform a more just and equitable system going forward.

    We have come this far together, building on the strength of individual, tailored community outreach and supports to help reduce the risk of further outbreaks in the hardest hit areas of Ontario’s most marginalized communities. To get Ontario back on its feet, and begin the recovery we all so desperately want to see, we have to start with those who’ve been pushed the furthest down by this pandemic. Mass vaccination sites alone, however well placed or advertised using social media and traditional advertising buys will only take us so far.

    We have to help those at the greatest risk through community approaches that have proven to be successful. We have seen in other jurisdictions, particularly in the United States, that without a coordinated plan to reach the hardest hit communities, vaccination rates in postal codes with the highest number of outbreaks are often the ones with the lowest vaccination rates. We have a chance to write a different story here in Ontario. Together, we can do it.

    Sincerely,
    Sarah Hobbs, CEO, Alliance for Healthier Communities
    Kavita Mehta, CEO, Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario
    Dana Cooper, Executive Director, Nurse Practitioners Association of Ontario
    Jennifer Clement, CEO, Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic Association
    Leanne Clark, CEO, Ontario College of Family Physicians
    Anthony Dale, CEO, Ontario Hospital Association
    Dr. Samantha Hill, President, Ontario Medical Association
    Dr. Alykhan Abdulla, Chair, Section on General and Family Practice, Ontario Medical Association

    See the pdf version here.

  • Potential Transfers to Ontario Health

    Sent on Behalf of Matthew Anderson, President & CEO, Ontario Health

    To: All Team Members

    From: Matthew Anderson, President and CEO, Ontario Health

    Date: December 10, 2020

    Re: Potential Transfers to Ontario Health

    As part of our ongoing commitment to keep you informed of organizational transformation efforts, provided here is an update on the discussions underway with the Ministry of Health regarding the intent to transfer Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) non-patient care functions and Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN) into Ontario Health.

    As you may remember, the Ministry of Health previously announced the intention to transfer LHIN non-patient care functions into Ontario Health for April 1, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the transfer was paused to maintain health system stability and to ensure our resources were focused on addressing the pandemic and on protecting the health and well-being of Ontarians. We are now resuming this work and while we do not yet have firm dates, we will be doing some preliminary planning for this to potentially move forward April 1, 2021.

    Read the full letter here.

  • Bits & Pieces: apply for messaging pilots, free registration for legal webinars and more

    Bits & Pieces: apply for messaging pilots, free registration for legal webinars and more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Teams can apply for messaging pilots
    • Enter to win free registration to Legal Issues for Primary Care Teams series
    • Mental Health Works modules available from CMHA Ontario
    • Urgent need for physio student placement
    • Quality standard placemats- low back pain and osteoarthritis
    • Recommendations for resuming spirometry, Supply Ontario & PPE, and more
    • Registered Respiratory Therapist job descriptions
    • Upcoming events on increasing older adults’ access to care and more

    Sustaining virtual care-Dr. Ed Brown

    Teams can apply for messaging pilots

    Primary care teams are eligible to apply for funding for tech licenses and fee-for-service messaging as part of Ontario Health’s COVID‐19 funded projects. If you are interested, please contact Vivian Henderson – vhenderson@otn.ca. As a bonus, you can also see Dr. Ed Brown’s recent presentation on sustaining virtual care here.

     

    Enter to win free registration to Legal Issues for Primary Care Teams series

    AFHTO members have the chance to win one (1) free registration to the 2021 Legal Issues for Primary Care Teams series, with Kate Dewhirst and Maria McDonald. Topics include employment law, OHTs, employees as patients and more. The deadline to enter is Nov. 27, 2020. A winner will be randomly drawn and announced Dec. 1, 2020. Enter today!

    Mental Health Works modules available from CMHA Ontario

    Mental Health Works is a nationwide social enterprise of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario Division. It offers 13 individual ‘essentials’ training modules that provide workplaces tools to foster mental wellness. Topics range from depression and anxiety, to substance use and addictions, to trauma, to psychological health and safety.

    Urgent need for physio student placement –request from Dr. Jane Philpott

    The Physiotherapy Clinical Education Team at Queen’s is in the process of coordinating clinical placements for 2021. Learning opportunities have been hit hard by the impact of COVID-19 and they are now reaching out for support from clinical partners across the province.

    Does your team have a PT who could supervise a student? Read here to find out what’s required.

    Quality standard placemats- low back pain and osteoarthritis

    In response to feedback from primary care, Ontario Health (Quality) has shared a newly developed tool called the Quality Standard (QS) Placemat. The placemat is a quick-reference tool that concisely summarizes key information from its corresponding quality standard in an at-a-glance format.

    Since acute low back pain and osteoarthritis represent two of the most common clinical conditions in the primary care setting, their first placemats have focused on these. They’re posted on Quorum.

    They also have a list of tools and resources that support the implementation of quality standards related to pain and associated symptoms, including chronic pain, low back pain, and osteoarthritis.

    Recommendations for resuming spirometry, Supply Ontario & PPE, and more

    Updates recently released include:

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

    Registered Respiratory Therapist job descriptions
    Respiratory Therapy Society of Ontario has recently released RRT job descriptions across multiple settings. They are now listed as a resource in our library of organizational policies & procedures page -Staff roles, recruitment and development.

    Race, Racism, And COVID-19: The Institute For Pandemics Inaugural Lecture, Nov. 24, 2020
    This panel will explore evidence and examine the implications for using policy and other strategies to dismantle structural racism.
    Learn more here.

    Increasing older adults’ access to care: Lessons learned from the pandemic response, Nov. 25, 2020
    In this webinar hosted by CAMH, Sara Bhatti , Alliance for Healthier Communities and Alvis Choi, Yet Keen Seniors’ Day Centre describe specific responses taken by CHCs to address the needs of older adults during the pandemic. Register here.

    Cultural Safety and Indigenous Partnership, Nov. 27, 2020
    Join the first webinar of this Virtual Learning Exchange in Primary Care series held by the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement. Learn more here.

    End of Life with ALS and assisted non-invasive ventilation, Dec. 1, 2020
    This webinar is the first of a 3-part webinar series on End-of-Life. Learn more alongside the HPCO and Proresp starting on Dec. 1. Find out more here.

    Osgoode Professional Development, Oct. 5, 2020 – Apr 28, 2021
    AFHTO is partnering with York University’s OPD to provide members 10% off a variety of health law programs for professional development. For discount code and course offerings, click here.