CBC news published an article Apr 29, 2023

By Ben Andrews

At first, Peter Hamer thought the empty lot in Carleton Place, Ont., was destined to become a standard medical clinic.

With an estimated 4,000 residents in the area without a family doctor, the project would help address a need.

But as work progressed, Hamer began to see the outline of “something much more interesting.”

“Instead of just bringing doctors in one building, we also want to bring other health service providers,” said Hamer, the executive director of the Ottawa Valley Family Health Team.

“All the ancillary health service providers that are in the geographic area under one roof.”

The idea to bring a team of health-care workers — including doctors, nurses, dietitians, mental health workers and others — together in a single health centre located about 50 kilometres southwest of downtown Ottawa may be “paving a new approach” for rural health care, he said.

The Ontario College of Family Physicians estimates more than 2 million Ontarians are without a family doctor, and those shortages are felt more acutely in rural and remote parts of the province.

That competitive market is pitting municipalities in Ontario against each other in creative attempts to lure family doctors.

Many small towns are sweetening the pot for prospective physicians by offering direct cash incentives in exchange for a commitment to practise in the community.

But cash alone doesn’t guarantee a desirable work environment, and Hamer said the goal in Carleton Place is to create a different competitive model.

“It’s about the environment,” he said. “If you can offset the costs associated with that, then it’s a really easy sell.”

The sale

Carleton Place Mayor Toby Randell said the town’s relatively limited budget pushed it to “think outside the box.”

The health centre is the product of a partnership between Carleton Place, the nearby Township of Beckwith, the developer MNH Group and the Ottawa Valley Family Health Team, a group of family physicians who practise in the area.

Set to open in fall 2024, the health centre is currently under construction at the end of Costello Drive on a plot of land that had been set aside for a new hospital until provincial funding dried up.

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Government of Canada Announced Apr 2023

Inner City Family Health Team – Toronto, ON 

Substance Use Hub for People Experiencing Homelessness  

$992,114 over 24 Months to develop a substance use hub for people experiencing homelessness. The Substance Use Hub will be a comprehensive substance use care program specifically targeting individuals who are living in shelters, encampments, and other homeless settings by providing them with a flexible drop-in style clinic for those with opioid, stimulant and alcohol use needs. Through this comprehensive substance use care model, patients will have access to life-saving drugs, peer support and a team of trained physicians, nurses, and support staff. This project will include participation from people with lived and living experience with substance use to further project development, data collection and evaluation. This project is a collaboration between the Inner-City Family Health Team (ICFHT) and Inner City Health Associates (ICHA) in Toronto Ontario.

Ottawa Citizen Published Apr 08, 2023

By Andrew Duffy

An Ottawa pilot project has significantly reduced opioid use among patients with chronic pain by treating it with the kind of comprehensive program used to treat other chronic diseases.

As part of the pilot project introduced at the Bruyère Academic Family Health Team, a staff nurse met with patients to discuss how lifestyle changes — improvements to exercise, diet, drinking, smoking and sleep habits — could help them manage their own pain and reduce their reliance on opioids.

Personal histories were reviewed, including traumatic childhood events, and those with unresolved issues were referred to social workers or psychologists.

Patients were also encouraged to plan specific, measurable steps before their next visits with the nurse.

Results of the two-year pilot study, recently published in the Canadian Family Physician journal, showed that 21.6 per cent of patients reported a reduction in their pain levels. Nearly half (46.9 per cent) said their pain interfered less with daily activities.

By the end of the study, 42.9 per cent of patients who used opioids had reduced their dosages. One participant completely eliminated opioid use.

“We basically found that their opioid ingestion went down, their pain scores went down, and the pain was interfering less in their lives than before,” said Dr. Hillel Finestone, the study’s lead investigator.

Finestone, a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Bruyère, said the study held important implications for the estimated 7.6 million Canadians living with chronic pain and the family physicians most often tasked with treating them.

“Chronic pain interferes with so many facets of daily living. It can often lead to depression, anxiety and addiction,” Finestone said.

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CambridgeToday Published an article Apr 7, 2023

By CambridgeToday Staff

For the past three weeks, the Cambridge North Dumfries Ontario Health Team (CND OHT) has been piloting an eight-week Community Mental Health and Addictions Clinic (CMAC) in Cambridge with the help of several community partners.

The CMAC, located on Wing C, Level 3 of Cambridge Memorial Hospital, is intended to improve quick access to mental health and addictions treatment, improve the patient experience in navigating treatment and alleviate system pressures.

“It can be very difficult for people who need help with mental health or addictions in Cambridge to get help,” said Dr. Craig Albrecht, lead CMAC physician in a press release. 

“Long wait lists and fragmented services are familiar problems for patients, and for health providers trying to help. The hope is that a clinic like this will provide faster and more concrete connections to existing people and services, especially when people have urgent concerns and are sitting on waiting lists. The approach of our local OHT is a huge opportunity to help our system work better together for everyone.

Jessica Hill, a CMAC peer worker, said issues with mental health and addiction remain highly stigmatized in the community.

“That is why it is so important for safe spaces like this to be available for individuals dealing with these specialized needs. I look forward to welcoming individuals from within the community into a non-judgmental space where they can be provided the care they need from a multidisciplinary team of professionals,” she said in the release.

The CMAC is being coordinated by several CND OHT members and staffed by community partners, including:

• Langs
• Waterloo Region Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic
• Canadian Mental Health Association – Waterloo Wellington
• Two Rivers Family Health Team
• Porchlight Counselling and Addictions Services
• Grandview Medical Centre Family Health Team
• House of Friendship
• Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services
• Region of Waterloo Public Health

The staff team includes a prescriber, counsellors, peer workers, outreach workers and a CMHA service coordinator.

The goal of the CMAC is to address immediate needs and ensure a comprehensive follow-up plan is put in place for each client. Services offered at the clinic include clinical evaluation, counselling services, follow-up planning and service coordination.

To reduce barriers and increase accessibility to the clinic, no appointment is necessary, patients of all ages are accepted at the clinic, and health card is not required, nor is a referral from a primary care provider.

To date, the clinic has seen over 40 individuals, ranging in age from 7 to 91 years.

In addition to these initial visits, over 64 follow-ups have been completed, resulting in over 109 patient encounters in just three weeks. All clients surveyed indicated that they were very satisfied with the care received at the CMAC.

On Tuesday, Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services began a pilot to bring patients with appropriate mental health and addictions conditions to the CMAC.

This change is being made in collaboration with the Cambridge Memorial Hospital Emergency Department and will allow paramedics to divert mental health and addictions calls.

The CND OHT and Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services are working in partnership to evaluate the impact of this pilot.

Early evaluation and feedback from the community has suggested that the CMAC is already having a significant impact.

The CND OHT recognizes the value and importance of the CMAC and is in the process of submitting funding proposals to secure funding so that this clinic can become a permanent resource for the Cambridge and North Dumfries communities.

A clinic patient describes the benefit of quick access to support services.

“I have been struggling with severe depression and anxiety for over 2 years. I’ve tried multiple different programs, but everything is a 10 month wait. We need something accessible that will be easier. I’m in crisis mode and it is a 9+ month wait anywhere else. CMAC has been able to help me this week. We need more programs like CMAC. Where they have accessibility to programs and help me now.”

Further information about the clinic can be found at www.cndoht.com.

The Cambridge North Dumfries Ontario Health Team (CND OHT) is a collaborative of over forty health and social service provider agencies from Cambridge, North Dumfries and the Waterloo Region.

The CND OHT envisions a community where people access seamless and integrated services to ensure the health and wellbeing of our diverse populations.

The Ontario government introduced Ontario Health Teams to support a connected health care system centred around patients, families and caregivers. Ontario Health Teams strengthen local services, making it easier for patients to navigate the system and transition between providers.

For more information about the CND OHT, visit cndoht.com.

See the CMAC newsletter for more information here

Click here for the CND OHT CMAC Media release

Inquinte.ca  Published an article March 03, 2023

By Nicole Kleinsteuber

The Ontario government is investing in the hiring of more nurse practitioners to expand access to primary care within the Quinte Region.

MPP Todd Smith announced on Friday the Ministry of Health is providing the Belleville Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic up to $209,800 in additional base funding for 2022-2023 and up to $839,200 in annualized funding starting in 2023-2024.  The investment will support the hiring of 2.6 additional nurse practitioner positions, 1.5 administration positions, a registered nurse and a social worker.  By increasing staffing levels at the Belleville Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, Smith said they can ensure about 2,000 more people will see primary care practitioners.

“This is a great first step in trying to solve our primary care shortage in the Quinte Region,” he said following the announcement.  “Anytime you have the opportunity to attach 2,000 people in the Quinte Region to a primary care provider that’s great.  “There is still a lot of work to do but there are going to be more of these good news announcements coming in the near future.”

Karen Clayton-Babb, the Chief Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Director at the Belleville Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic called the funding announcement “very exciting.”  

“We are thrilled because we have been working on this for the past five years so we are very delighted to have this new funding,” she said.  “Similar to other communities across Ontario thousands of residents are unattached to primary care and the number continues to grow; therefore, this new investment for the expansion of  the Belleville Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, is a step in the right direction to transform the lives of residents who have been without primary care for many years.”

The current location in downtown Belleville has four nurse practitioners serving 2,700 patients throughout the Bay of Quinte and surrounding areas.  When the BNPLC submitted a proposal for funding to the province it was for a new satellite office, however, they are “having some challenges with that” and work continues on where the future location will be.

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Lanarkleedstoday Published an article March 03, 2023

The Carleton Place Regional Health Hub is going from a dream to reality when shovels hit the ground this fall.

14 existing family physicians across Beckwith and Carleton Place will operate under one roof providing residents access to programs offered by the Ottawa Valley Family Health Team (OVFHT).

OVFHT Executive Director Peter Hamer says the initial reaction from the local physicians were a mixed bag.

The 40,000 square feet of space on a 15,000 square feet footprint will be on Costello Drive, a prime location for this facility, Hamer says

He adds it took five years of work to get to this point, and they hope to have doors open by next September.

This was made possible through $1.2 million in annual provincial funding and $1.7 million over ten years between Carleton Place and Beckwith.

CTV video here

Click here for full article from Lanarkleedstoday

Additional article from Inside Ottawa Valley

CBC Published an article March 02, 2023

More family doctors in Ontario could begin caring for their patients in teams — alongside nurses, social workers and other health professionals — as a result of the new federal-provincial funding deal. 

The deal between the governments of Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is at this stage just an agreement-in-principle, so the two sides still need to sort out precisely how the promised $8.4 billion will actually be spent. 

The first priority named in the funding agreement is providing Ontarians “access to high-quality family health services when they need them.” 

But Ontario is facing an acute shortage of family physicians that is only forecast to worsen. It’s currently estimated that more than two million Ontarians are without a family doctor, and projections suggest looming retirements of physicians will push that number even higher. 

With little prospect of rapidly and significantly boosting the number of family doctors in Ontario, how can the deal with the federal government increase access to primary care? Experts say the key is allowing more family doctors to work in teams of health professionals so they can take on more patients. 

Team-based care has long been shown to be better not only for patients but also for the well-being of family doctors, says Dr. Allan Grill, lead physician of the Markham Family Health Team and chief of family medicine at Markham-Stouffville Hospital in York Region just north of Toronto.

“You can’t expect family physicians to just add on layers and layers of work,” said Grill in an interview. “From the perspective of attracting and recruiting more family physicians, we need this team-based model.” 

Grill says the aging population means that patients’ health needs are becoming more complex. 

• Ontario reaches agreement-in-principle on health funding from federal government

“If we want family physicians to be able to spend the time with those patients and even take on new patients, something has to give,” he said. “They need more support than they’re getting now, and the team-based model is the way to do it.” 

Less than 30 per cent of people in Ontario are currently covered by any form of team-based primary care. 

The biggest source of this is what the Ministry of Health calls “family health teams” (FHTs). About 3.4 million patients are enrolled in one of the 184 teams scattered around the province, according to figures from the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario. 

However, for the past decade, Ontario has made it all but impossible for physicians to form new family health teams. All but three of the existing FHTs were created between 2005 and 2012. 

At the Village Family Health Team in Toronto, 11 family physicians work together with two psychiatrists, a group of registered nurses, as well as a nurse practitioner, social worker, physiotherapist, dietitian, chiropodist and a pharmacist. About 3.4 million Ontarians get their primary care through a family health team. (Craig Chivers/CBC)

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Midland Today Published an article February 23, 2023

North Simcoe Family Health Team urges residents to contact MPP about ‘highly needed’ service.

Due to the rising numbers of respiratory illnesses in our region, the North Simcoe Family Health Team (NSFHT) opened the COVID-19, Cold and Flu Care Clinic (CCFCC) on Dec. 14, 2022.

The goal of the clinic is to ease the pressure on the hospital emergency department and provide alternative, accessible care for the community.

“The hospital is very pleased with the success of this clinic because of the substantial positive impact it’s had on our community. Having this service available for low acuity illness such as cold and flu enables the hospital to focus on high patient volumes for more serious, complex patients,” says Angie Saini, vice-president, clinical services and chief nursing executive. “The COVID, Cold and Flu Care Clinic is a perfect example of how partners working together through Ontario Health Teams can make a difference in providing accessible, co-ordinated access for patients. It really is about providing the right care in the right setting at the right time.”

Since opening its doors, the clinic has seen over 550 patients in a six-week period, and doesn’t expect to see a decrease in demand in the coming months. This demand includes children and individuals who do not have a primary health-care provider and require same-day access.

“We’ve seen high volumes of individuals and families through the clinic in the past six weeks and we want to make sure we continue offering as much support as we can to those who need it,” says Andrew Shantz, executive director of the North Simcoe Family Health Team. “On most days the clinic is fully booked and there continues to be a growing demand — especially with access to same-day or next-day appointments. When fully staffed, the CCFCC can see 35 to 40 patients per day.”

The clinic’s role is to provide assessment, testing and treatment for people experiencing COVID-19, cold, flu or other respiratory symptoms, and offers an opportunity for families and individuals in north Simcoe to access care quickly and efficiently.

“Unfortunately, our community does not have another option for urgent care beyond the hospital’s emergency department. Without support like the CCFCC, most patients will either end up at the emergency department — which is not always the best place for this sort of care — or make the decision to not seek the care they require,” says Shantz.

The clinic was originally created to support the community’s health-care needs during the pandemic and the heightened cold and flu season. However, the CCFCC has proven to be an excellent option for those not requiring emergency department care, but seeking medical assessment, care and navigation for all non-emergent issues — including chronic disease management, surge response, preventative care, etc.

“It is our understanding that the CCFCC funding will cease on March 31, 2023. A clinic like this is able to adapt to the needs of the community — whether it’s supporting patients with colds, episodics, or preventative care. It’s going to be a challenge for our community to lose a service that is so highly needed, and we know that other clinics across the province are facing similar challenges,” says Shantz.

For more information, community members are encouraged to contact their local member of provincial parliament to inquire about the sustainability of the COVID-19, Cold and Flu Care Clinic in north Simcoe.

Huntsville Doppler Published an article February 24, 2023

The service will begin on Tuesday, February 28 for unattached patients seeking primary care. The phone line to book an appointment will open a day before on the 27th of February, by calling 705-789-1744. Appointments can also be booked at algonquinfht.ca.

Patients who have a local family doctor or nurse practitioner will not be seen for primary care at the clinic and redirected back to their doctor or nurse practitioner.

The Algonquin Family Health Team and the Town of Huntsville have been partnering together to create the Huntsville Health Care Clinic, located at The Annex, 1 Minerva Street East.

The Clinic’s goals are to reduce Emergency Department visits and provide comprehensive primary care to the community for those who do not have a family
doctor or nurse practitioner.

“The HHCC will not be taking on patients permanently. Patients without a primary care provider are asked to sign up on their local waitlist. Accessing this clinic will not affect your waitlist status. We understand that there is a great need for primary care in Huntsville and beyond and we are expecting high volumes. Your understanding and patience is important as we start to see unattached patients,” states the release. “Requests for appointments will be returned if we can accommodate you. Unattached patients in the Huntsville area are encouraged to register on the wait list on the Algonquin Family Health Team website at algonquinfht.ca and can also access virtual care and learn more about where to get care at https://www.mahc.ca/en/services/where-to-get-care-muskoka.aspx.“