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Tag: Highlights

  • A Joint Open Letter on Pandemic Pay

    May 25, 2020

    Premier Doug Ford
    Queen’s Park
    Toronto, ON
    M7A 1A1

    OPEN LETTER

    Dear Premier Ford,

    As a broad group of healthcare stakeholders whose members employ tens of thousands of front line workers in the fight against COVID 19, we write to you today to seek immediate clarity on the implementation details and timing of the release of pandemic pay to support frontline workers employed by organizations funded by the Ministry of Health and the LHINs.

    On April 25th, we each applauded the Government of Ontario’s announcement that frontline workers would be recognized with temporary pandemic pay for the current challenges they face keeping Ontarians healthy, safe and informed during the pandemic.  

    A month later, it is still not clear whether the efforts of all of our healthcare workers will be recognized or if pandemic pay is restricted to a subset of employees. Also, funding has yet to flow to the front line and in fact for those front-line workers whose organizations are funded by the Ministry of Health and/or LHINs have yet to receive clarity on whether or not they will be considered front line workers eligible for pandemic pay.  This is contributing to extreme morale issues at the front line at a time when staff need to be supported most.  It is also creating unnecessary conflict for employers who are left trying to explain to their employees why they cannot provide neither clarity nor the pay itself.

    Together, we are urging the Provincial Government to immediately communicate the implementation details, including confirmation that the funding is for all workers on the frontline, and release funding so that frontline workers can start to see the benefit now while the economy is opening up and they are still hard at work to contain the pandemic.

    Additionally, to recognize the critical services provided and the team effort required in fighting COVID-19, we continue to urge that pandemic pay be applied to all non-management front line providers, including regulated frontline staff.

    Every day, it becomes increasingly difficult to see this great initiative, that has such great promise for health care worker recognition, be undermined by delay.

    We thank you for your attentiveness to our request and look forward to your reply.

    Yours truly,

    (Original Signed By)

    Justin J. Bates, CEO, Ontario Pharmacists Association
    Anthony Dale, CEO, Ontario Hospital Association
    Lisa Levin, CEO, AdvantAge Ontario
    Kavita Mehta, CEO, Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario
    Kimberly Moran, CEO, Children’s Mental Health Ontario
    Camille Quenneville, CEO, Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario
    Deborah Simon, CEO, Ontario Community Support Association
    Adrienne Spafford, CEO, Addictions and Mental Health Ontario
    Adrianna Tetley, CEO, Alliance for Healthier Communities
    Alisha Tharani, Executive Director, Mental Health Partners
    Samantha Yau, President, Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists Ontario Branch

    Cc:
    Hon. Peter Bethlanfalvy, President of the Treasury Board
    Hon. Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health
    James Wallace, Chief of Staff to the Premier
    Mark Lawson, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Premier
    Karl Baldauf, Chief of Staff to the President of the Treasury Board
    Leif Malling, Chief of Staff to the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health

    See the pdf version here.

  • AFHTO 2020 Conference: switching things up

    In February AFHTO’s Membership Committee and Board approved our 2020 conference themes and program. In March we prepared to announce them and send a call for volunteers but as with everything else, the COVID-19 pandemic overtook our plans. Thank you for your patience as we monitored the situation and made decisions about how it might affect the 2020 Conference, set to take place this October in Toronto.

    Based on information from the World Health Organization (WHO), Public Health Canada, Public Health Ontario, and others, we find we cannot hold the conference in-person as originally planned. Our focus and priority are member and stakeholder safety and well-being.

    Something new

    Last year attendees said they wanted a change so we’re exploring virtual options. Without an in-person component, we can create something new and envision the conference differently. What can it look like without those familiar constraints?

    We want to hear from you

    We’re working on this right now and we need your help. What do you want to hear more about and how would you like it?

    Tell us in this quick survey

    Primary care remains vital as the foundation for the health care system. As you work to keep your patients healthy and out of the emergency department, we know many of you are seeking connection, support, and resources more than ever before. You’ve been checking our COVID-19 resource section, reading our emails and attending our webinars.

    With all of this in mind, we feel the AFHTO Conference, with its focus on team-based primary care, is needed now more than ever, in whatever format best serves your needs. So, tell us what you’d like to see.

    For our Leadership Triad, AFHTO’s Annual General Meeting will proceed on October 8th, 2020 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. More information about that, as well as Board recruitment, will be shared shortly.

    Please stay tuned to your email, our website, Facebook and Twitter for further details as we work to make this event something you can look forward to this year.

  • AFHTO partners with Ontario Psychological Association and others to improve access to psychological services for front lines during COVID-19

    Ontario Psychological Association Partners with the Ontario College of Family Physicians, Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario and the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario to improve access to psychological services for front lines during COVID-19

    Ontario Psychological Association News release

    (Toronto, ON) May 12th, 2020 – In response to Ontario’s growing mental health crisis, hundreds of licensed psychologists have been mobilized to assist our province’s front-line workers in any industry as they battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The Ontario Psychological Association continues to monitor the mental health needs emerging in Ontario with regards to COVID-19. Our partnership with leading digital health companies including Strata Health and Think Research will enable us to improve navigation, resource matching, and access to virtual care. We are hopeful that with future investments, we will be able to scale up supports to vulnerable populations such as those experiencing homelessness and seniors who have been forced to isolate.

    “This has been a trying time for everyone, especially our front-line workers. We are in this together and stand united with those who are under immense stress and pressure. As psychologists, we understand the biological, cognitive, emotional, and social impacts that this global crisis has caused. We are working with our partners to provide assistance to our communities,”
    Dr. Diana Velikonja, President of the Ontario Psychological Association.
     
    “We are so pleased to be part of such a great initiative. The Disaster Response Network ensures accessibility of essential mental health services for our frontline workers, vulnerable populations, and provides assistance in communities during this pandemic’.
        Dawn Tymianski, CEO, Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario

    “COVID-19 has created a lot of anxiety and stress for everyone and our teams are seeing an increased need for mental health support for not only their patients but for themselves as well.  The support being provided by the OPA is critical and the importance of having this support, especially for those who are vulnerable and at risk, is essential in ensuring we have a healthy and resilient population who feel connected and supported during the pandemic. We thank the OPA for this very important initiative and are appreciative of our partnership.”
        Kavita Mehta, CEO, Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario
     
    “The OCFP welcomes this collaboration with OPA, AFHTO and NPAO to provide needed mental health support for frontline workers. We know that the health impact of COVID-19 goes beyond the virus itself. It has meant interruptions in care for other chronic conditions and increased mental health struggles — especially among those working on the frontlines of this pandemic. The OPA’s program is meeting an important need for those who are providing care and we are proud to help support them through this program”.
        Leanne Clarke, CEO, Ontario College of Family Physicians

    To learn more, contact Mr. Richard Morrison, CEO of OPA at Richard@psych.on.ca.

    Read the full release here.

  • Letter from AFHTO’s President and Board Chair-May 2020

    Letter from AFHTO’s President and Board Chair-May 2020

    Tom Richard

    Dear Team Members,

    As we approach a new month contending with this pandemic, I thought it would be a good time to touch base. The continued disruptions, frustrations and adjustments of how we provide our services has been a tremendous source of anxiety to ourselves, our families and those we look after. Yet, despite all this, primary care continues to step up and ensure our patients get the care they need.

    Though we are forced to work differently now, we still ensure those that need help get it in the most appropriate way. We battle through, despite fears of a dwindling supply of PPE, and plan for how care can be provided under all contingencies. As we still confront this infection, we are left to wonder what the “new normal” will be like. We plan for how we will contend with future “waves” and ask questions about how long certain “elective” conditions can be deferred.

    The unknowns are certainly a challenge but what I do know is that each and every one of you have stepped up to ensure that our patients are protected and supported and that they will continue to get the excellent care they deserve.

    This only happens when dedicated and caring professionals understand the difference they make in the lives of those they commit to care for. You are all to be congratulated and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It makes me proud to see how teams across this province have stood up to fear and uncertainty and continue to support the most vulnerable in our society.

    Many of you who serve on the frontlines of this battle do so at great personal risk. Yet, you continue to show the bravery, compassion and commitment that has been documented numerous times in the media over the last several weeks. Be proud of what you continue to do.

    I want to mention that it would be my expectation that your own contributions should be recognized by the province with the “pandemic pay” that has been promised to other frontline workers. This would be a much-appreciated gesture to acknowledge the risk and hard work you continue to undertake.

    Primary care is certainly the foundation of our healthcare system. The encompassing support of a team is how we most effectively manage the trials of this time. We know our patients look to us first for knowledge and guidance. They trust us to look after their best interest. We have not and will not let them down.

    We are learning some things as we progress through this pandemic. About the disease, about the system and what we can improve on and about ourselves.  Rest assured; this will only make us stronger in the long run.

    Thank you again and keep up the incredible work you do every day.

    Dr. Tom Richard
    President and Board Chair
    Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario

    P.S. To all Executive Directors and Administrative Leads, please feel free to forward this to anyone on your team who may not get our emails.

  • An Open Letter from AFHTO, NPAO and the OCFP on PPE in Primary Care During COVID-19

    An Open Letter from AFHTO, NPAO and the OCFP on PPE in Primary Care During COVID-19

    April 15, 2020

    An open letter regarding PPE in Primary Care during COVID-19 was released today from the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO), Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario (NPAO) and the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP). On behalf of our members – who are caring for patients in communities across Ontario in the midst of COVID-19 – we are seeking urgent assistance from Ontario’s Ministry of Health in ensuring access to appropriate PPE in order to safeguard patient access to primary care.

    Ontarians should not feel reluctant to visit their clinicians who can take the precautions necessary for that visit, and our members are working tirelessly to keep primary care open and operating – despite PPE shortages.

    However, we are quickly reaching a breaking point in primary care. Without the needed PPE to keep everyone in our medical offices and clinics safe, some will be forced to close their doors to in-person care. This may prompt some patients to go to the ER for in-person care, or worse, not seek care at all.

    We are recommending that the Ontario Ministry of Health immediately streamline the procurement of PPE through one central source for distribution to primary care through Ontario Health/regions and not leave primary care clinics to have to find PPE on their own.

    Read the full letter here.

  • How Lakelands FHT Handled a Positive COVID-19 Result At Their Clinic

    As told by Dr. Matt Dumas, Lead Physician, Lakelands FHT*

    In late March, Lakelands FHT discovered that there was a positive case at our Northbrook site. That resulted in the immediate closure of our building. We all had to go home and finish 14 day periods of self-isolation. To our surprise, this meant having to distance ourselves from our own families, which was very difficult.

    The day that we realized we would have to close our building, we decided to build a clinic without walls. We accomplished this by creating an email account for patients to contact us and posted this on our website and Facebook pages. Our 3 physicians and 2 NPs were able to remotely access the PSS EMR and fax prescriptions from our own homes. Our super RN/IT expert also had remote access and provided critical support. We were able to create schedules for ourselves and call patients from our homes by turning off the Caller ID’s on our phones. Our Mental Health Social Worker was able to call the patients in her schedule as well.

    The Lead Physician monitored the email daily and transferred the emails to the appropriate provider for action. Once the emails were completed, they were moved to a separate folder and our RN copy/pasted the emails into the patient’s chart before deleting them from the email entirely, limiting the amount of time that personal information was kept in cyberspace. With this system, we were able to respond to over 20 patient emails per day, as well as call the patients that were scheduled previously. This made for busy days, and it was a relief to sign out of the email every day at 4:30!

    We were discouraged that we couldn’t answer the phones at our clinic while we were shutdown, but we were able to respond to patient requests in ways that we had not done before: by answering emails to patients or calling them directly from our homes. This was an evolution from the days of paper charting.

    We also created call lists of all of our patients who are above the age of 70 and had our NPs call them to ask how they were doing, find out if they had any needs, and to remind them of the importance of physical distancing, which the vast majority of our patients were already following.

    With the advice of KFLA Public Health we have reopened the clinic. We have separated our staff at the Denbigh and Northbrook sites so that if there is another shutdown, the phone can be forwarded to the site that is still open, and the providers can work from home as before.

    *In the first version of this post, Janice Powell, Executive Director, was listed as the source. It has now been updated to reflect Dr. Matt Dumas’s contribution.

  • Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliot joining tonight’s Primary Care Virtual Community

    After hearing from many of you and your ask for support to connect with each other and reflect on what’s needed to lead through challenging times The Ontario College of Family Physicians, The Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario and The Change Foundation came together in short order to create the next Primary Care Virtual Community session. There are over 150 members registered and we invite others to join us for the session tonight at 7:00 p.m.
     
    For the Primary Care Virtual Community session tonight, we are thrilled to announce that Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, the Honourable Christine Elliot will be joining us to personally connect with and thank the primary care community, and recognize each of you for your work on the front lines during this challenging and unprecedented time.
     
    We ask that you do not share in advance on social media that Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Health is attending this session. With an increase of ‘bots / trolls’ hacking into virtual meetings, we want to do our part to make this as seamless of an experience for everyone joining.  
     
    Given the current situation, we’d like to ensure we dedicate this time solely to those in primary care and keep the community atmosphere we’ve enjoyed in all our sessions so far.  
     
    Please do share this email with your networks so that all of primary care in ON is aware of tonight’s session and knows that they are welcome to join.

    • This Week’s Topic:  Primary Care Leading Through Challenging Times
    • Date and Time: Thursday April 2nd, 2020 from 7pm to 8:30 p.m. [*note time change*]

    We will be joined by Drs Sarah Newbery, Marathon FHT and Rob Annis, North Perth FHT and Penny Paucha, Founder and Principal at Instincts at Work. Penny will share her insights on thinking and working through complexity and chaos.
     
    If you have not registered for the Primary Care Virtual Community, you can do so by clicking here.
     
    For those who have registered, thank you. Please note we have extended the session to 90 minutes. The Primary Care Virtual Session will now end at 8:30 p.m.
     
    Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email that will have an enclosed password. Please use this password for the login for the session tonight. If you have any questions please contact info@changefoundation.com.

  • Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19

    On March 25, 2020, Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips released Ontario’s Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19 (OAP) in the Legislature. The action plan is a fiscal and economic update, which constitutes another legislative step in the Ontario government’s response to the pandemic.

    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world have had to respond in unprecedented ways using whatever public policy instruments they have to combat the economic uncertainty this crisis is creating. Ontario had to shelve their budget, which was expected today, in favour of a more focused economic update and one-year plan that accounts for today’s current economic reality with targeted measures to address health care capacity, struggling people and the businesses where they work. 

    The OAP is a $17-billion action plan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding announced can be divided into the following three categories: 

    1.    Direct support for health care;
    2.    Direct support for people and jobs;
    3.    Deferrals to help people and businesses increase cash flow.

    The foremost objective of today’s fiscal update is to provide stability to Ontario’s health care system and support for Ontario’s most vulnerable groups.  

    In Ontario’s 2020 Action Plan, the deficit is pegged at $20.5 billion for 2020-21. The government’s intention with this plan is to ensure that immediate challenges are met while still giving Ontario the ability to respond to future capacity challenges associated with COVID-19. Once the government begins to gain clarity on our ability to “flatten the curve,” they will begin planning what will be required to support Ontarians in the “recovery phase.”  

    The Ontario government has been closely coordinating with the federal government with regard to their public policy responses to COVID-19. These measures are meant to complement each other’s plans. 

  • Letter from AFHTO’s President and Board Chair

    Letter from AFHTO’s President and Board Chair

    Tom Richard

    Dear AFHTO teammates,

    I just wanted to reach out to all of you while I have a moment to thank you for your tremendous efforts over the last couple of weeks. Like you, I have been busy working with our team to realign services, develop innovative ways to contend with COVID-19 while also continuing to provide essential care to our patients.

    In addition, working with public health and our hospital to martial resources to meet the pending demand has been a daunting planning process. I know all of you have also been working hard to make sure we can be as prepared as possible for this pandemic.

    Through this, I have observed firsthand the dedication and commitment of all our IHPs, physicians, nurse practitioners and administrative staff as we strive to contend with something that we have never before experienced. Everybody has made the patient’s interest and well-being their first priority as we plan and prepare for COVID-19.

    Your association continues to be here to support you. They have responsibly embraced social distancing and are trying to work as much as possible from home but continue to represent and assist you with matters that are of critical importance to team-based care.

    As many of you may know, the Ministry email from March 18th allows interprofessional primary care teams to re-deploy any clinical resources where they are most needed to contend with COVID-19. We are all encouraged to work closely with Public Health experts to facilitate a coordinated and effective response to this virus.

    Additionally, the Ministry has decided to delay the Annual Operating Plans and has loosened reporting timelines as they understand the challenges we are all facing now.

    I know many of you may be feeling anxious and tired, but I can assure you that our ability to adapt and confront this pandemic as a team puts us in a much stronger position to mitigate the eventual impact. By supporting our patients and each other, we will get through this and be successful in demonstrating the great value that team-based care brings to Ontario.

    Last night as I reviewed my many emails, I came across one from a grocery store chain about how they were contending with the difficult circumstances they faced as a result of this pandemic. A phrase that caught my eye was “TOUGH TIMES DON’T LAST, TOUGH TEAMS DO!” I thought this captured perfectly that attitude we must all embrace in these uncertain times.

    Look out for your patients and look after your colleagues. Support each other in the coming weeks and not only will we succeed in dealing with this pandemic, but we will also ensure that team-based care is the model of care that should be offered to all in Ontario.

    Take care,

    Dr. Tom Richard
    President and Board Chair
    Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario

  • Our new location

    Our new location

    AFHTO new location lunchroom view

     

    We’re happy to announce we have officially moved into office space subleased from the Ontario College of Family Physicians.

    We’re now sharing space with OCFP and Centre for Effective Practice staff in the heart of downtown Toronto. Phone extensions will be updated today but our main line is working. All email addresses remain the same.

    “Co-locating provides AFHTO an opportunity to strengthen our partnerships and align opportunities for joint advocacy, policy and resource development. By moving downtown, we are also closer to our Ministry, Ontario Health and political contacts which helps with strengthening our relationships”, explains Kavita Mehta, CEO, AFHTO.