News

April 16 - Two Rivers FHT honoured at Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO)'s Annual General Meeting           Left to R

April 8 - The Thamesview Family Health Team is hosting the RENEW program in the Chatham-Kent area. RENEW (Resources, Education, Nutrition, Exercise, Wellness) is a free four-week program for cancer survivors featuring experts, including a genetic counsellor, registered dietitian and physiotherapist, who provide insight into the next steps in the cancer journey. When patients are discharged from cancer treatment they and their caregivers are often left with a lot of questions and need for support.

Mar 31- On Friday Mar 27, funding for the Erie-St. Clair LHIN was announced including a new two-year pilot project to treat lower back pain and for physiotherapy in primary care. Physiotherapy, chiropractic and massage therapy will be available at the Essex County Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, the VON — Nurse Practioner-Led Clinic and City Centre Health Care.

Recent media coverage about family health teams and team-based primary care as a whole have pointed to its value to patients in Ontario and the government’s intent to review primary health care models and balance healthcare spending.

We invite you, your colleagues and patients to participate in a conference program working group and earn a $50 discount on registration for the AFHTO 2015 Conference. Play a valuable role by discovering the thought leaders in your chosen topic area and by shaping the content of the AFHTO conference for your peers across the province. Please inform your colleagues, staff and patients so they have the opportunity to participate. Based on our experience, and feedback from last year’s conference, we strongly encourage patient participation in the conference working groups.

Mar. 23 – Lauded as the possible future of healthcare, Hospital @ Home is a partnership project with the aim to divert appropriate patients requiring inpatient care to a program that wraps the necessary care around the patient in their own home – ‘the right care at the right time in the right place’. The subject of an AFHTO 2014 conference presentation, the program provides services patients wouldn’t typically receive from home care, but would have access to in the hospital setting, and at significant cost savings.

Mar. 12 - Rapids FHT in Sarnia has initiated the Momentum program to empower families to change their eating and behaviour habits so children become healthier. The program is the first of its kind in the region and brings the whole family together with a team of health providers to build meal plans, develop healthy habits and cope with social pressures. They’re currently seeking families to participate in the program.

Mar. 11- AFHTO members were among the inaugural winners of The Change Foundation’s 20 Faces of Change Awards. The awards honour those who have inspired positive, patient-focused change in Ontario's healthcare system. Dr. Ed Kucharski, Sherbourne Health Centre FHT Dr.

Feb. 25- The Superior Family Health Team is collaborating with community partners to reduce the amount of drug misuse, drug-related crime and incidents of overdose in the Algoma region with the Fentanyl Patch 4 Patch Exchange Program. The program is a collaborative effort between area physicians, pharmacists, and agencies, including Algoma Public Health, Sault Ste. Marie Police Service, Group Health Centre, A New Link, Sault Area Hospital, the North East LHIN, and Dr. Alan McLean and the Superior FHT.

There is a compelling association between comprehensive primary care and system efficiency and effectiveness. The lifelong work of the late Barbara Starfield observed that an investment in primary care was associated with improved system quality, equity and efficiency (reduced cost)^{[i],[ii],[iii] ,[iv]}. In British Columbia this efficiency was quantified by Marcus Hollander.