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Tag: Highlights

  • City of Lakes FHT: A decade of making a difference

    A decade of making a difference: City of Lakes Family Health Team marks a milestone

    Sudbury.com article published Feb. 21, 2018. Article in full pasted below. Heidi Ulrichsen, Sudbury.com

    Thanks for saving my life. That’s the message one woman recently wanted to convey to the City of Lakes Family Health Team, which provides primary care services to nearly 20,000 Sudburians. “We really get some extraordinary stories,” said Dave Courtemanche, who’s the family health team’s executive director (you might also know him as Greater Sudbury’s former mayor). “As long as we continue to get that kind of feedback, that the patients we serve are thrilled with their care, to me, that’s what it’s all about.” The City of Lakes Family Health Team, which opened its first clinic in February 2008 in Val Caron, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The organization’s second clinic opened in May 2008 in a space behind Pioneer Manor in New Sudbury, followed by a Walden clinic in 2011 and finally a Chelmsford clinic in 2017. The four clinics are staffed by 17 family physicians (there’s plans to hire another this year) and 13 allied health-care providers including nurse practitioners, registered nurses, a pharmacist, a dietitian and a social worker. Some of those physicians are new to the family health team and still growing their practices, so there’s actually room for about 4,000 more patients, bringing the total roster to 24,000. The idea is that family physicians working with allied health professionals are able to provide better care than in a traditional, solo practice. It’s taken a lot of persistence to get the project off the ground, said Dr. Chris McKibbon, both the founding and current chair of the organization’s board. That includes opening the clinics in outlying areas, many of which are medically underserviced. The City of Greater Sudbury helped out by providing rent-free space in municipal buildings. “At the end of the day we’ve had lots of ups and downs,” McKibbon said. “Sometimes it’s been a challenge to be persistent with this. But I think the docs and the patients and the communities where we’ve located are happy with what we’ve accomplished so far.” Many doctors on staff are recent Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) graduates, some of whom did their residency at the family health team. “I think the notion of a solo family doctor working in isolation in their office without access to physician colleagues or other health professionals is a very old idea,” said Dr. Tom Crichton, the family health team’s medical lead. “Young physicians these days have no interest in that. “They’ve experienced and seen how when a team is working together, it’s far better at meeting the needs of patients who have much more complicated problems and sets of issues that need to be sorted out.” The family health team offers many programs to support their chronic disease management efforts. These programs include geriatrics, nutrition, smoking cessation, palliative care, cancer screening, mental health, diabetes, hypertension and medication management. It also follows up with hospitalized patients after they’ve been discharged — a particularly vulnerable time — to make medication changes and set up follow-up appointments with their family doc. Because poverty is linked to poor health, patients are also now screened for poverty. If they are having a hard time making ends meet, they’re referred to social support programs that may be of some help. Crichton said he’s “thrilled” the City of Lakes Family Health Team is celebrating 10 years, but he’s “not surprised” it’s thriving. “I think the idea made sense to those of us involved in it at the start, and it continues to make tremendous sense,” he said. “Family health teams have proven themselves in the province to be a very effective and efficient way of delivering primary care. We’re happy to have been part of that movement.” Learn more about the City of Lakes Family Health Team, visit its website. Click here to access the Sudbury. com article.

  • AFHTO’s 2018 Pre-Budget Submission

    AFHTO submitted its recommendations to the Ministry of Finance in February 2018, calling on the government to strengthen primary care so that it can deliver on its commitments outlined in the Patients First Act and ensure all Ontarians receive access to high quality, comprehensive, interprofessional team-based primary care.

    Key recommendations include:

    • Increase access to Interprofessional team-based care primary care
    • Invest in meaningful measurement in primary care that allows movement for improvement
    • Ensure seamless transition of care coordinators into primary care

     

    The full submission can be read here:

     

  • Timmins FHT physician pleased with geriatric clinic collaboration

    COLUMN: Timmins doctor pleased with partnership

    Timmins Press article published Jan. 30, 2018. Article in full pasted below. Dr. Yves Raymond

    TIMMINS – It’s well known that Northeastern Ontario has an aging population and that this poses a challenge for health care services across our region. I’ve seen first-hand how it is possible to “get ahead of the game” by health care organizations working together and coordinating their services so that patients, particularly older ones, reap the benefits.

    For several years, my place of work – the Timmins Family Health Team, had been doing memory assessments in collaboration with a geriatric nurse. Over time, we found that the demands for geriatric services were continually growing. Two years ago, we saw a great opportunity when we were approached by the North East Specialized Geriatric Centre (NESGC) – located in Sudbury – about developing a satellite site in Timmins.

    The result was the opening of a new geriatric clinic, which has been serving older adults and providing specialized geriatric services for just over a year. Our partnership allowed each organization to share space, expertise, and benefit from working together. Today, we are able to provide more well-rounded care to our patients by having access to more specialties within geriatrics.

    Through the program, patients can access an inter-disciplinary team of professionals from a single location. This includes not only physicians from our health team, but also care of the elderly physicians provided by NESGC, social workers, registered nurses, and occupational therapists. We also benefit from having a North East LHIN Geriatric Case Manager working from our office, who helps to coordinate home care services. As well, specialist assistance is available from Sudbury, thanks to our partnership with NESGC.

    With access to all of these resources in one place, it is easier to link patients with appropriate services after their assessment is completed. When patients need a specialized geriatric care assessment, it means that they are in functional decline, so there is an urgency to get services and care in place. It’s significant that the Centre has been successful in decreasing wait times for patient assessments by up to 75%— from eight to 12 months in 2013/2014 to three months currently. All of the program’s services are outpatient and community-based and are designed to help keep people living at home with as much independence as possible.

    Geriatric assessments are complex, but having many services in the same location makes the process easier and more efficient. In addition, many patients bring a caregiver or family member with them, so having everything in one spot increases the likelihood that the same family member will be able to contribute to all aspects of the assessment. In the end, patients are happier because their health needs are met, they get the care they need more quickly, and their questions are answered by the right professionals under one roof. Patients do not have to be on the Timmins Family Health Team roster—or even be living in Timmins— to access specialized geriatric services. These services are open to patients living all along the Highway 11 corridor and they are available in both English and French. In cases where travel might pose an issue, videoconferencing over the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) can be used in lieu of in-person appointments.

    To meet the challenges of both the present and the future, we have to be willing to break down silos and create new partnerships. For my part, I’m incredibly heartened to see the openmindedness and willingness to collaborate that exists amongst health care and social service providers in the Timmins and Cochrane area. As shown by the success of the geriatric clinic, when we put patients first and work across boundaries the results can be transformative!

    Dr. Yves Raymond is a physician with the Timmins Family Health Team and the Primary Care Lead for the Cochrane Sub-Region with the North East LHIN.  Click here to access the Timmins Press article. Relevant Link: “Collaboration of elderly care in Timmins celebrates one-year anniversary“- TimminsToday article, Feb. 28, 2018

  • Patients First news and updates

    On Dec. 7, 2016 Ontario’s government passed Bill 41: the Patients First Act, 2016. With many changes to the health care system, including the role of LHINs and development of subregions, implementation will likely continue for several years. Please see below for updates relevant to primary care. Updates:

  • Kincardine FHT certified as a GREAT WORKPLACE

    Kincardine FHT has been certified as a GREAT WORKPLACE after a thorough and independent analysis conducted by Great Place to Work® Canada. This certification is based on direct feedback from employees, provided as part of an extensive and anonymous survey about the workplace experience. Gerry Glover, Chief Executive Officer of the Family Health Team said “workplace culture is significant to job satisfaction, employee retention and morale and successful patient outcomes. The concept of workplace culture is significant in understanding the behaviour of individuals in organizations as they manage variable expectations and internal social dynamics. Culture naturally permeates when collaboration, transparency, accountability, supportive leadership and collegial rapport exists. Our Team maintains high standards of care; align programs and services with best practice guidelines and immerse themselves into the patient-centered experience, to ensure each patient is provided the best care, at the right time, by the right provider and as close to home as possible. An engaged workplace culture emerges when the wishes of a Team are listened to, understood, appreciated and acted upon. We endeavor to provide our members with a work-life balance not typically inherent in many organizations. We believe employees should look forward to coming to work; share in open dialogue; participate in constructive differences of opinion and cooperative compromise. While the nature of our work may be difficult, it is rewarding, challenging and our organizational culture shouldn’t add to the stress of the work nor adversely impact the health and wellness of our Team members. Our Team is our most valuable asset and on behalf of our Board of Directors, I could not be more proud of their proactive individual and collective contributions to advance patient-centered care initiatives to the communities we serve.” About Great Place to Work: GPTW (www.greatplacetowork.ca) is the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. Through proprietary assessment tools, advisory services, and certification programs, GPTW recognizes the world’s Best Workplaces in a series of national lists including those published by Fortune magazine (USA) and The Globe & Mail (Canada). Great Place to Work® provides the benchmarks, framework, and expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures.

  • Season’s Greetings from AFHTO | Holiday Hours Inside

    HOLIDAY HOURS

    The AFHTO Office will be open December 20-22, 2017, but with significantly reduced staff. The office will be closed December 25-29, 2017 and January 1, then fully open again on January 2, 2017. For help with questions regarding data submissions for D2D during this period, please contact Greg Mitchell, greg.mitchell@afhto.ca. For all other inquires please email info@afhto.ca.

  • Niagara North FHT to Collaborate in Health Tapestry Program

    Niagara North FHT to Collaborate in Health Tapestry Program The Standard Article published December 12, 2017. Article in full pasted below. Suzanne Mason, The Standard Niagara-on-the-Lake has been chosen as the sixth site in Ontario to participate in the Health Tapestry program that assists people aged 70 and older stay healthy longer and remain in their homes. The local program is a partnership between McMaster University’s department of family medicine, the Canadian Red Cross and the Niagara North Family Health Team. Initially started five years ago with a Health Canada grant, the program is now funded for the next few years by the province and a Hamilton resident. The Red Cross will be training local post-secondary students and retirees who will team up for visits to people in their homes to help determine their health-care goals and needs and relay the information to their health-care providers. Dr. David Price, chair and professor of the family medicine department at McMaster University, told town councillors Monday night that participants in the program have had less falls, are more active and made fewer hospital visits. “We are intervening to improve their health care,” he said, and “get out in front of this, so they don’t end up in the hospital.” After the meeting, Price said volunteers also benefit from participating in the program. “For recent retirees, it’s a way of giving back,” he said. “They are also learning about their own journey, where (they) could be in a few years. “The youth bring a different vision,” Price said. “They have a lot to offer.” Starting in late January to early February, the program will be offered to town residents who are at least 70 years old whose family doctor is part of the town’s Niagara North Family Health Team. Recruitment of volunteers, some of whom were members of the auxiliary at the former Niagara-on-the-Lake hospital, and at Niagara College and Brock University, has already started. The executive director for the health team, Mary Keith, said there will be a soft launch of the program initially as many residents are away during the winter. She said patients who meet criteria for the program are being invited to participate with a target of about 100 by March. People interested in volunteering for the Health Tapestry program are asked to contact Nelson Ruiz Blanco at the Red Cross at 905-522-8485 or at Nelson.RuizBlanco@redcross.ca. For more information, go to www.healthtapestry.ca. Click here to access The Standard article.

  • Inner City FHT & Partners Receive More Funding for Housing Project for Adults with Developmental Disabilities

    As of November 1, the Bridges to Housing (B2H) project received expanded funding to continue identifying and supporting persons with developmental disabilities (DD) experiencing homelessness. In 2015, the City of Toronto, Inner City FHT and Community Living Toronto were awarded nearly one million dollars, recommended by the Developmental Disability Housing Task Force, a cross-sector group assisting the Ministry of Community and Social Services. An effective population-based triage and screening approach was developed that saw the rapid identification of clients with developmental disabilities and, with the help of Surrey Place, connection to Developmental Service Ontario Toronto Region. Success followed with wait time for diagnostic services reduced from months and years to days, and most enrolled clients have been successfully housed. Unfortunately, many clients with developmental disabilities had complex needs that could not be met by the program as they required more supports than could be provided or supportive options that were not available. To date, approximately 1200 homeless individuals from shelters and a Psychiatric Hospital have been triaged using the Rapid Assessment of Residential Supports (RARS). The emerging findings are as follows:

    • 27% were suspected of having a developmental disability.
    • 60% had a severe mental illness affecting housing stability.
    • 53% smoked cigarettes, used drugs or alcohol affecting housing stability.
    • 71% had cognitive impairments
    • 36% had moderate to severe behavioural challenges.
    • 36% were deemed to require 24-hour housing supports.
    • 16% needed nursing care to manage ongoing medical challenges.
    • Of those that were diagnosed with a developmental disability, many had a history of incarceration, abuse in childhood, drug use, mental health challenges as well as acquired brain injury. According to front line teams, behavioral and/or psychological challenges were the primary barrier to housing. Most clients in Bridges to Housing have now been housed and have been approved to receive Passport Funding.

    Relevant Links

  • MOHLTC Inviting Applications for New Midwifery Programs

    The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Association of Ontario Midwives are inviting applications for two new programs that have been introduced with a special focus on access, choice, and addressing health inequities:

    • Indigenous Midwifery Programs are designed to enhance culturally safe midwifery care and traditional services for expectant families in Indigenous communities.
    • Expanded Midwifery Care Models (EMCM)are intended o enable community based midwifery services to be delivered in a variety of settings where the existing midwifery practice group (MPG) model and funding arrangement aren’t appropriate. These settings could include interprofessional primary care teams.

    Interested parties can contact the Ministry at midwifery@ontario.ca to request the application and supporting guidance documents. For those unable to apply this year, there will be an annual application process. Relevant Links

  • Clinton FHT Invites Community for Weekly Walking on Wednesdays

    Clinton Newsrecord article published November 21, 2017. Article in full pasted below. Sheila Pritchard, Clinton Newsrecord The Clinton Family Health Team would like to invite the community to get active and have some fun with them on Wednesdays at noon at the Central Huron Community Complex walking track. Join two health specialists from the Team, along with neighbours and co-strollers, for an hour each week for the Fitwalk program. Fitwalk runs every Wednesday from 12-1 p.m., from now until December 13, when the group will take a break for the holidays. Clinton Family Health Team’s Jennifer Blackhall, RN (EC), one of the program co-ordinators, says the program has been well received but perhaps is not as well known about as it could be with local residents. “Wendy [Madarasz, RD], the dietician that does the program with me, she presented our program at the dietician’s conference out in Newfoundland,” says Blackhall. “Then we just did a poster presentation on our program at the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario. So, we’re trying to get the word out there and encourage community members to come.” Blackhall says December 13 will be the last walk before a break over the holiday season. “We stop generally in December to mid-January, as it is harder to get people out during this busy, social time.” That Wednesday will also be a special holiday-themed Fitwalk, adds Blackhall. “That’s going to be our ‘Ugly Christmas Sweater’ week and our executive director will be our guest that week as well.” Fitwalk starts at 12 p.m. and is done at 1 p.m. “We try and start right at noon, and the Y [Central Huron YMCA] comes up and leads exercises, then people walk around,” explains Blackhall. “Then at 12:45 we stop, and the dietician does a little presentation, then we have a healthy snack.” Blackhall says that generally it is a healthy snack, but it probably won’t be as healthy that day with it being Christmas. FITwalk is not only an enjoyable way to stay active close to home, it is also educational, says Blackhall. In the new year, Fitwalk will resume at the Central Huron Community Complex, from January 17 until May 30. “It’s a great place over there at the community centre because it’s free and it’s safe,” Blackhall says. “Many people benefit from going there.” Click here to access the Clinton Newsrecord article.