Innovation Award Winner – Sherbourne Health Centre, Infirmary Program The Sherbourne Health Centre, which encompasses the Sherbourne Family Health Team, was honoured for developing an innovative program to provide chemo and radiation therapies to individuals experiencing homelessness, or those with no real ‘home’. These patients face significant barriers to accessing mainstream treatment. Even those in shelters or rooming houses lack a sufficiently safe or hygienic environment, and cannot appropriately dispose of the toxic chemotherapeutic waste. Since 2011, Sherbourne’s Infirmary, supported by their FHT, has enabled Ontario oncologists to confidently implement treatment plans for a number of homeless or vulnerably housed individuals, who may otherwise have been refused treatment or struggled to fit into care options. The initiative has produced integrated care from a coordinated team of CCAC, oncologists and Sherbourne staff, to ensure a seamless transition between hospital, shelter and infirmary settings. Innovation Award Honourable Mention – North York Family Health Team & North York General Hospital The North York Family Health Team Colorectal Cancer Survivorship Program is a collaborative partnership with North York General Hospital (NYGH) to provide nurse practitioner-led (NP) patient-centred care for patients who have completed active treatment for colorectal cancer and require five year surveillance for cancer recurrence or metastases. The program has reduced duplication of care provided by multiple specialists, resulted in fewer specialist appointments billed to OHIP, reduced costly duplication of tests and streamlined care into one location provided by one healthcare professional. The program has shifted the roles in survivorship care from a physician-driven hospital model to a community based NP-led environment. See all Cancer Quality Ontario 2012 award recipients here.
