Tag: members in the media

Parry Sound North Star published March 29, 2022

Written by Sarah Bissonette

On any given day, Valarie Stanley watches members of area’s older residents tackle Mount Everest, explore the streets of Paris or sit in a garden while never leaving Parry Sound and, for some, remaining in their wheelchairs.

The Parry Sound Health Team virtual reality project takes the world to older adults for increased social connection and improved mental health — to give them some “fun” as Executive Director Peter Istvan said. Stanley, the Parry Sound Family Health Team senior VR project co-ordinator, arrives at congregate living homes and support centres in the area every week with virtual reality headsets.

“We give them choices. Where do they want to go in the world today? And it’s kind of fun. I thought it wasn’t going to be as successful as it is; it’s unbelievable,” said Stanley.

While wearing the headsets, the person can turn their head and move to look around the world on the screen, similar to being in the space themselves.

The virtual reality program is funded by Ontario’s Seniors Community Grant.

Public Health Grey Bruce published March 25, 2022

Written by Denis Langlois

The Peninsula Family Health Team has gone above and beyond to ensure every eligible person in Northern Bruce Peninsula who wants the COVID-19 vaccine can get it.

And the team’s efforts, which included holding their own community vaccination clinics and reaching out to their 5,000 or so patients through a variety of mediums, is reflected in their exceptionally high vaccination rates, which are well above the Grey-Bruce and provincial rates.

A staggering 94 per cent of their adult patients have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 93 per cent are considered fully vaccinated with two doses. Seventy-five per cent of their patients have received a booster shot.

“It was easy for us to succeed because our entire team was totally committed from Day 1. We had, as the anchor, the full support from the physician group as well as all of our employees,” says Pamela Loughlean, executive director of the Peninsula FHT.

“Our little group had suddenly faced something we had never faced before with this vaccination rollout. But we knew we could do it right from the start. And we’d do it all again in a heartbeat.”

The Peninsula Family Health Team is a shining example of what can be accomplished when primary care providers not only agree to provide COVID-19 vaccines, but set a goal of offering the potentially life-saving shots to as many patients as possible.

Sudbury Star published March 24, 2022

The City of Lakes Family Health Team has received $68,721 from Ontario’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response and Recovery program to support virtual primary care.
The funding will be used to “optimize access to virtual care for patients at all City of Lakes Family Health Team’s (FHT) clinic in Sudbury, Chelmsford, Walden, and Val Caron,” the group said in a release.

Virtual care, which gained popularity during the pandemic, is the use of video, phone, and messaging to five patients access to their provider without having to physically go to the clinic.

The release said it improves patient and caregiver experience by “facilitating more convenient, timely, and equitable access to care.”

“Since the onset of the pandemic, virtual care has enabled patients to see their providers even when public health restrictions limited the number of patients that could congregate at a primary care clinic,” the health team said.

“It also gave both providers and patients an opportunity to experience virtual care and, as a result, has accelerated the adoption of virtual care technologies for delivering primary care.”

Going forward, virtual care will continue to be available for providers and patients who choose to use the technology while providers continue to offer in-person services and appointments.

“Our patients love the option of being able to connect with their provider by phone or video,” said City of Lakes FHT executive director Dave Courtemanche.

“Especially this time of year when it can be very difficult for some people to leave their homes and drive through hazardous winter road conditions.”
The provincial funding will help City of Lakes FHT implement, expand, and sustain a hybrid solution of virtual care, including virtual video and phone appointments and home visits.

It will also enable patients to book an appointment online at www.yourFHT.com and allow patients to connect with their provider by sending safe and secure messages directly from the website.

City of Lakes FHT is an interdisciplinary team of health care professionals working to provide primary health care services to more than 20,000 residents of Greater Sudbury.

TBS News watch article published March 15, 2022

By Gary Rinne

THUNDER BAY — The Lakehead Nurse Practitioner-led Clinic is looking to expand its client base, and its facilities, after receiving word of an increase in its base funding from the Ministry of Health.

The $753,000 increase will enable the clinic to hire two more nurse practitioners, two health professional support staff and two office workers.

In turn, this will allow it to serve an additional 1,600 patients who currently don’t have a primary care provider.
The clinic already has 4,200 clients.

Administrator Spencer Oshimo said “This is really good for Thunder Bay, with a lot of doctors retiring in the next couple of years. This is a big opportunity for all those unattached patients to get the primary care they need.”

The Lakehead Nurse Practitioner-led Clinic is located in the former McKellar Hospital building.
Oshimo said it needs more space but the clinic plans to stay at its current location, saying there is room there to expand.

“We’re really excited to be able to go ahead with this,” he said.

The funding announcement was made Monday by Kenora-Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford and Health Minister Christine Elliott.

NorfolkToday.ca article published March 11, 2022

By Ashley Taylor

The Ontario government is providing $973,500 to Haldimand Family Health Teams to help more members of the community access primary care services.

This funding is part of the government’s investment of $6.2 million across 32 primary care teams to improve access to primary care in high needs communities across the province.

“Through this funding we are ensuring that patients have access to the care they need when they need it, right here in the Haldimand area,” MPP Toby Barrett said in the press release.

Primary care includes coverage such as family doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, and other frontline professionals.

Click here for the full article

The Georgina Post article published January 21, 2022

By Mike Anderson

Clinic Director Beth Cowper-Fung and her GNPLC staff were literally jumping for joy after Health Georgina Chair Steve Jacobson officially handed over the keys last week to their new building at 21071 Dalton Rd. in Jackson’s Point.

“We’re just so excited to be in the new building,” said Cowper-Fung. “This has been a long time coming.”

“We’re getting back into a state-of-the-art medical facility, which is amazing for the Town, as there’s been a long history of healthcare on this site. Dr. George Burrows was our consulting physician when we first took over in 2011; he stayed on with us pretty much until the day he passed.”

While the building’s outer shell, which Kenstruct Ltd. began constructing last April, has been completed, the interior renovations, funded by a $1.6 million provincial grant, will start next week and are slated to be finished by August.

Barrie-based Bertram Construction Ltd. was awarded the contract after submitting the lowest of four bids.

Health Georgina provided the initial $1.3 million for the building’s construction.

But skyrocketing material costs during the pandemic forced the volunteer-run, not-for-profit organization to seek donations from the community, with residents contributing $220,000 to the project so far.

“It’s very exciting, very gratifying to see this come to fruition,” Jacobson said. “There’s a lot of people in the community to thank.”

“I’d also like to thank the Town of Georgina for working with us to get it done and giving us back a fair amount of funds that we paid in fees. There were also a lot of local people who worked pro bono. And, of course, I had a great team who were extremely dedicated.”

Read the full article here