On October 25 AFHTO named the winners of our twelfth Bright Lights Awards at our ceremony at our annual conference. These innovators have improved access to primary care through their leadership, outstanding work and significant progress made toward improving the value delivered by interprofessional primary care teams throughout Ontario. Bright Lights Award winners are innovators and team players whose work has an impact on the healthcare system and in the lives of their patients and communities.
The review committees made up of AFHTO members chose the winners from among dozens of nominations. AFHTO gave awards for each of our four conference themes, as well as a spotlight award for excellent work by an underrepresented primary care team. The winners will receive a $1000 education grant each courtesy of Boehringer Ingelheim.
The five recipients of Bright Lights Awards are listed below. Click on the links to read a summary of their achievements:
1. Petawawa Centennial Family Health Team
Award Category: Using a population-based approach to provide care to the community
Achievement: Integrated Virtual Care
Petawawa Centennial Family Health Team created the Integrated Virtual Care (IVC) to address the shortage of family physicians in the Renfrew County area. This hybrid model of care increased access to comprehensive, team-based primary care while improving equity.
2. Huron Shores Family Health Team
Award Category: Optimizing teams’ capacity and creating efficiencies
Achievement: Palliative Care Team
In reviewing the team’s hospital discharge program, they identified a gap in access to a family physician and noticed numerous referrals to a social worker for grief. As a result, their nurse practitioner, nurse, and social worker joined forces and created a palliative care program.
3. Two Rivers and Grandview Medical Centre Family Health Teams
Award Category: Organizing primary care to advance Ontario Health Teams
Achievement: Community Mental Health & Addictions Clinic (C-MAC) Pilot Project
Recognizing the need for quick access to mental health and addictions services in their community, Two Rivers and Grandview Medical Centre FHTs worked with their Ontario Health Team to realize an eight-week pilot for a Community Mental Health & Addictions Clinic at Cambridge Memorial Hospital.
See the video for this award
4. Georgian Bay Family Health Team
Award Category: Embedding mental health and home care in primary care
Achievement: myDAWN Project
Georgian Bay FHT developed and implemented a standardized, evidence-based pathway for child and youth depression and anxiety, myDAWN (Depression, Anxiety, Wellness Navigation).
5. Dufferin Area Family Health Team and North Peel & Dufferin Community Legal Services
Award Category: Spotlight Award
Achievement: ODSP Clinic
Dufferin Area FHT (DAFHT) joined forces with North Peel & Dufferin Community Legal Services (NPDCLS) to offer patients with disabilities their services in preparing applications for the Ontario Disability Support Payment (ODSP) through a clinic that has been an ongoing success.
Congratulations to all our winners and nominees! And to see all our nominees please visit the 2023 Hall of Fame.
The call for nominations for the 2024 Bright Light Awards will go out in June 2024. All AFHTO members are welcome and encouraged to participate.
