Arnprior & District Family Health Team continues to support COVID-19 efforts
April 23, 2021 – Arnprior & District Family Health Team (ADFHT) has been hard at work supporting local residents in addressing their needs as a result of the pandemic.
ADFHT is one of the key partner organizations taking the administrative lead in launching the Renfrew County Virtual Triage and Assessment Centre’s (VTAC) virtual bookings. This initiative was launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is a partnership between ADFHT, Arnprior Regional Health (the hospital), Renfrew County Paramedics and the Renfrew County and District Health Unit.
VTAC was established to strengthen access to healthcare for all residents of Renfrew County during the pandemic so that the Emergency Departments and 9-1-1 services are reserved for genuine emergencies.
This is done through having medical receptionists, family physicians/nurse practitioners on call through VTAC to provide assessment, treatment and the booking of COVID testing.
Remote monitoring of individuals at home who don’t require hospitalization but can be monitored and treated at home is also arranged and supported through VTAC. VTAC has both a live phone line that can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and also an online booking system to support individuals needing a covid test.
The ADFHT employs all the receptionists, schedules all the testing, provides the back end administrative support, provides 24/7 management coverage, trouble shooting, manages urgent requests from the Health Unit related to testing and coordinates the physician schedules. Some of these costs are reimbursed through Assessment Centre funding provided to ARH by Ontario Health.
In addition to the success of VTAC’s virtual bookings, ADFHT has also taken on a co-lead role in the COVID-19 Vaccination efforts, helping to organize and lead both Drive Through and onsite clinics for vaccination.
The Drive Through Clinics are now being held in Arnprior every Thursday and there are people all across the County and beyond who travel to the drive through clinics to experience the drive through model of vaccination. In the last two weeks alone, over 1,500 patients have been vaccinated in two drive through clinics.
ADFHT, Arnprior Regional Health and County of Renfrew Paramedic Service continue to demonstrate the essential role of primary care in Arnprior while working in collaboration to support our local needs.
Relevant Links: