Congratulations to Hon. Dr. Jane Philpott, Canada’s new Minister of Health and founding Lead Physician of the Health For All FHT in Markham. Announced today as part of the new cabinet, Dr. Philpott’s background also includes time in the Niger Republic and serving as chief of family medicine at the Markham-Stouffville hospital. Her responsibilities are expected to include implementation of campaign promises related to home and community care investment and the creation of a national pharmacare program. For further information, you can read her official biography here.
Tag: Highlights
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AFHTO 2015 Conference: Strengthening the foundation of a sustainable health system
- “FHTs and NPLCs are the engine of team-based innovation in primary care in Ontario and likely all of Canada.” – Dr. Sean Blaine, AFHTO President, at the Opening Plenary.
- “Achieving the Triple Aim cannot happen without improved team experience.” – Both Dr. Ed Wagner at the opening plenary and Kavita Mehta in the closing panel pointed out the critical importance of the “Quadruple Aim” – adding the goal of improving health care clinicians’ and staff’s work life to the Triple Aim of enhancing patient experience, improving population health, and reducing costs.
- “Small changes wrap up to big ones.” – Dr. Ivy Oandasan of University of Toronto’s advice to primary care teams on creating a culture of interprofessional collaboration focused on patient needs.
- “Primary care leaders need to become system leaders.” – Paul Huras, South West LHIN CEO, at the Closing Plenary.
- “Data to Decisions (D2D) is a total game changer… D2D is about finally moving from body-part measures of quality to a holistic human measurement.” – Dr. Danielle Martin, Women’s College Academic FHT, at the AFHTO Bright Lights Awards Dinner.
- “It’s clear we’re ready to tackle the challenges that await us.” – Dr. Sean Blaine, AFHTO President, at the Closing Plenary.
Over 900 people took part in the AFHTO 2015 Conference – Team-Based Primary Care: The Foundation of a Sustainable Health System.
Conference attendees, presenters and special guest speakers were asked to explore how we can strengthen this foundation to meet the changing needs of our communities and patients. AFHTO members expressed a clear readiness to tackle these challenges, together with the pressing need to stabilize the primary care workforce and address critical system barriers. This will require consultation with providers and patients to design a system that makes sense. At the Bright Lights Awards dinner, Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Bob Bell told members, “team-based care is the future of the province” and guaranteed that “any effort in primary care reform will have absolute thorough and timely consultation with primary care leadership.” AFHTO members are already demonstrating their leadership and initiative as shown throughout the conference:
- Beginning with the Leadership Session;
- Sessions to support IHP collaboration and networking;
- The Opening Plenary with Dr. Ed Wagner, Team-Based Primary Care: The Foundation of a Sustainable Health System;
- The 42 concurrent session and 65 poster presentations in seven core themes;
- The EMR community of practice meetings; and,
- The Closing Plenary panel discussion asking us – where do we go from here?
The AFHTO annual conference is the best learning and networking opportunity for people who work in and with primary care teams. Please help us to continue:
- Submit your evaluation of the conference: If you didn’t fill in the form at the conference, please take a moment to do so now.
- Book your calendar NOW for the next AFHTO conference on October 17 & 18, 2016, once again at the Westin Harbour Castle.
The value of the AFHTO 2015 Conference continues. Click below to access:
- Application for certificate of attendance
- Winners from the AFHTO 2015 Bright Lights Awards
- Materials from the AFHTO Conference to be posted by November 13, 2015:
- AFHTO Annual Report to the members – released October 2015
- Congratulations to the new AFHTO 2015-16 Board of Directors
Thank you once again to the volunteers who contributed to the success of the AFHTO 2015 Conference – speakers, working group members, program hosts, profession-based program hosts, and registration desk volunteers. Thank you as well to our sponsors and exhibitors. It’s truly an honour and pleasure to work with so many highly talented, enthusiastic and committed people across the AFHTO community. We look forward to seeing you next year – October 17 & 18, 2016!
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Upper Canada Family Health Team officially opens Gananoque location | St. Lawrence News
St. Lawrence News article published on October 28, 2015. Article in full pasted below. Jan Murray, St. Lawrence News A small crowd gathered on at the Upper Canada Family Health Team Office at 25 Mill St. in Gananoque on Wednesday, Oct. 21 to celebrate the official opening of the facility.
“Thanks to Sherri Hudson, executive director, Bev Markell, program administrator and Andrew Everett, the lead physician,” began Dr. Debbie Briggs.
“Locally, I’d like to thank Dr. Brian Hart and the team around him, as well as the local community support,” Briggs continued. “Also, I would like to extend a special thank you to the UCFHT team, who were very patient and forced to develop resourcefulness in finding areas to work while the construction was being completed. This team includes Lisa Lunn, geriatric social worker; Sharon Hinbeck, mental health social worker; Theresa Couteau, dietician; Melissa Spence, RN; Lindsay Hyde, occupational therapist; Emily Maskell, admin support/IT; and Deanna Powers, who is the background administrative support.
The group of physicians from Seeleys Bay, Lansdowne and Gananoque has attempted over many years to try and establish this type of provision of health care.
“Fortunately, about two years ago, the UCFHT reached out to us and invited us to join the team,” explained Briggs. “They have been extremely welcoming, helpful, convivial, and a pleasure to work with through this transition. Our goal now is to provide comprehensive and accessible health care to our community as much as possible in our communities. With this team and this new facility, we are closer to this goal. To get further information about the UCFHT you can go to their website or FB page, just google them or if you prefer the good old fashioned face to face conversation that is still a possibility.”
The family health team concept is essentially where you have a group of physicians who work with allied health care professionals.
“We’ve been trying for quite some time to build a family health team, but it is difficult to do due to limited resources,” explained Dr. Hart. “When the Upper Canada Health Team approached us, that was an opportunity that we pursued.”
In essence, the doctors are doing what they’ve always done but now have the addition of extra resources such as the dietician, social worker and the nurse.
“Therefore, collectively the team can provide not only the normal care that we do but we can focus on preventative care,” Hart said. “We can run things like memory clinics, smoking cessation clinics, we can do prevention clinics in terms of cardiovascular disease, and healthy living and we can do more home visits. We can even do home assessments. Really what it does is allow us access to a much larger funding for allied health professionals so that we can bring better care to the community.”
Clinics are already up and running. Information regarding when the clinics are running can be found on the website. “We have been running for about a year and a half, but this space has only been open for about 6 months, so everybody was kind of crowded into our existing space,” explained Hart. “We were double-using rooms, climbing over each other; it was a growing experience, a learning experience. Now that this space is open, everything is working well.”
Gananoque Mayor Erika Demchuk added, “Having the clinic here, supporting them and keeping the doctors here in Gananoque is very, very important. Certainly, any kind of help with expansion to help with preventative medicine is always good for the town and for the people that live here. If we can keep people out of the hospital and nursing homes, that’s very important. So expanding any of the space here to make sure that we utilize as much of it for health care is very important to the Town of Gananoque.”
Click here to access the article on the St. Lawrence News website.
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AFHTO 2015 Conference: Tips for your arrival and stay at the conference
It’s now one week to the AFHTO 2015 Conference on October 28 & 29! We look forward to seeing you all as we welcome close to 900 delegates from around the province. To ensure a smooth experience, please see below for some helpful tips for planning your arrival and stay at the conference:
Planning your Conference Experience
- Today is the deadline to pick your sessions and ensure your personalized schedule will be printed on your name badge. Click on the “Edit/change registration” icon in your confirmation email to do so.
- The conference program is available online and a printed kit will be handed out on arrival.
- Displays at the Conference: Feel free to visit our poster and exhibit displays during your breaks.
- Wi-Fi will be available to conference attendees for 1 device per person (smartphone, tablet, computer or other electronic device).
- For information on our Concurrent Sessions, Opening and Closing Plenaries, Bright Lights Awards Dinner, and all other conference sessions click here .
Conference On-site Registration opens at 7:30 AM on both Oct. 28 and 29
- Conference registration is in Convention Centre North, Second Floor. For a map of the convention centre see page 3 of the registration kit.
- If you can no longer attend the conference and someone else is taking your place, please forward your registration confirmation e-mail to him/her to show it at the registration desk
Sharing your AFHTO experience
- The official AFHTO hashtag is #afhto2015 – be sure to follow @afhto on twitter and “like” AFHTO on Facebook for regular updates at the conference.
Hotel Registration & Directions
As you may have heard, there was a recent flooding at this venue. Westin staff have assured us that their meeting space was not affected and as such, the conference will proceed as scheduled. For those who have booked rooms, we’re working with hotel staff to minimise any potential disruption to your stay and we’ll be sure to provide further updates as soon as we receive them.
- Hotel room registration is in the main building.
- Check-in is at 3:00 PM and check-out is at 12:00 PM.
- Coat and bag check will be available in the Convention Centre North, street level foyer
- Directions:
From Pearson: Toronto Hotel Airport Shuttle Pearson Express By car: Maps and Directions Parking in and near the hotel Public Transit: TTC: www.ttc.ca GO Transit: www.gotransit.com VIA: www.viarail.ca This program has been accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Ontario Chapter for up to 17 Mainpro-M1 credits. Attendance at this program entitles certified Canadian College of Health Leaders members (CHE / Fellow) to 2.5 Category II credits for Oct 27th Governance in Primary Care; 1.5 Category II credits for Oct 28th pre-conference (Leadership and IHP Sessions); 4 Category II credits for the Conference towards for their maintenance of certification requirement.
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2015 Annual Report Collective Impact: The Power to Shape Our Future
We are pleased to share our latest Annual Report – Collective Impact: The Power to Shape Our Future. This report highlights the progress AFHTO members have made, and the emerging research evidence on the added value of primary care teams.
Leadership + governance = Growing VALUE for Ontario’s + measurement + improvement patients and communities
This formula is driving the collective work of AFHTO members – family health teams and nurse practitioner-led clinics – and the results are showing. We are making visible progress toward the vision that all Ontarians will have timely access to high-quality and comprehensive primary care – care that is informed by the social determinants of health, delivered by collaborative teams, and anchored in an integrated, equitable and sustainable health system. Around the world, cost-effective and high-performing health systems share a common characteristic – they are based on a solid foundation of comprehensive primary care. We hope you enjoy reading what AFHTO members are doing to strengthen that foundation, and we look forward to continuing to work with members and stakeholders toward this vision.
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Ingersoll NPLC & partners’ pilot reduces emergency service needs
The Oxford Situation Table is a panel of 15 agencies including the OPP, Woodstock Police, the Ingersoll NPLC and community organizations working together to mobilise services in rapid response to potential crisis situations. Recently released results from the Oxford County pilot project chaired by an Ingersoll NPLC staff member show a positive impact in the community.
Community Service coordinator and councillor Lisa Longworth of Ingersoll NPLC, the situation table’s project manager and chair, said there was a need for cross-sector collaboration as none of the organizations involved “could address the risk by themselves.” With an increase in police reports of incidents related to domestic violence, mental health and social disorders, the panel was established to identify community members at elevated risk and arrange for intervention depending on their situation.
Their goal is to reduce the need for emergency services such as hospitalization, repeated police visits, severe injury or death. During the pilot project 44 cases of people or families at an elevated risk were identified. Of those 44 cases, 74% were connected to appropriate services for help, 13% refused service, 8% were informed about services, 3% were deceased, and 2% relocated. The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services has begun implementing similar situation tables across Ontario. To learn more, please visit the links below:
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AFHTO 2015 Conference: registration is still open / pick your sessions early
Presentations are being finalised, menus are being selected and posters are being created. Everything is being set up for the AFHTO 2015 Conference. Now all we need is you. There is still time for you and your colleagues to register for energising discussions, forward-looking plenaries, and networking with your peers. If you’ve already registered, don’t forget to pick your sessions if you haven’t already done so as some of them have limited space available. Just click on the Edit/change registration icon in your confirmation email titled “AFHTO 2015 CONFERENCE: REGISTRATION CONFIRMATION – Do Not Delete”. - Register an individual or team for the conference
- Members receive a 50% discount on registration (contact us for your access code).
- Find out more about registration fees and discounts
- Book discounted travel with Bearskin Air, Porter Airlines and/or VIA Rail Canada
- Conference and registration FAQs
Attendees at the AFHTO 2015 Conference will spend two session-packed days studying innovations in primary care, strengthening partnerships and addressing the challenges facing Ontario’s primary care teams. Highlights include diverse and relevant topics across 7 core themes:
Concurrent Sessions Posters Interprofessional Collaboration as the Anchor of Team-Based Primary Care Effective Governance for Quality in Primary Care Leadership Session: Leading primary care through the next stage EMR Communities of Practice Meetings (vendors included) This program has been accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Ontario Chapter for up to 17 Mainpro-M1 credits. Attendance at this program entitles certified Canadian College of Health Leaders members (CHE / Fellow) to 2.5 Category II credits for Oct 27th Governance in Primary Care; 1.5 Category II credits for Oct 28th pre-conference (Leadership and IHP Sessions); 4 Category II credits for the Conference towards for their maintenance of certification requirement. - Register an individual or team for the conference