News

July 16 – St. Michael’s Hospital Academic FHT has opened the Sumac Creek Health Centre to help serve Toronto’s downtown east region, including Regent Park, Moss Park and St. James Town. A densely populated area, it’s been underserved with an estimated 10,000 unattached patients who don’t have a primary care provider. A community engagement specialist will help determine the area’s specific needs and ensure the clinic is connected with other community agencies to provide more holistic health care.

AFHTO profiles the efforts of four family health teams (FHTs) and affiliated physician groups (FHOs, RNPGAs) as they integrated components of their respective operations such as procurement, staffing and strategic planning. Building an effective, collaborative, interdisciplinary team is essential to your success in delivering primary care. Combining people – physicians, IHPs and admin staff – presents added challenges when they come from different entities with different policies and ways of doing things.

July 9 – The Peterborough Examiner described the Peterborough Networked FHT partnership with the YMCA “as the next step toward a healthy community. It should also be the next step toward a comprehensive "green prescription" program across Ontario.” The first of its kind in the province, The Prescription ... to Physical Activity ... to Better Health initiative aims to address the increase in sedentary lifestyles with more than 100 family doctors, nurse practitioners and dietitians prescribing exercise for patients who need it.

July 3 – Dr. Ruth Wilson, a Queen’s FHT physician and former AFHTO board member, was named a member of the Order of Canada on Canada Day. The recipient of numerous awards, Dr. Wilson, who’s also a professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Queen's University, was moved by the honour, saying “it's not specific to my profession, it's an award on behalf of the nation.” According to The Kingston Whig- Standard, Wilson said family medicine's biggest accomplishment is the establishment of new models of care.

July 3 – Mothers attending the Waterfront Festival in Cobourg will have no trouble finding a comfortable spot to breastfeed and change their babies. The Northumberland Breastfeeding Coalition, of which Northumberland FHT is a member, has arranged a line-up of hot pink Adirondack chairs in an open-sided tent for their convenience. Coalition members will also be available to offer information about breastfeeding and community resources that support families. Their aim is to increase positive attitudes toward breastfeeding in public.

A new Electronic Medical Record (EMR) query to identify patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is available to all primary care providers using Accuro EMR. The query was developed by QIDS Specialists from the Windsor FHT and East GTA FHT and validated by other QIDS Specialists.

7. Clinical innovations keeping people at home and out of the hospital

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Presentation Slides: MedREACH              

Learning Objectives

At the end of the session, participants will be able to:

Theme 3. Transforming patients’ and caregivers’ experience and health

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The Vitality Interprofessional Team Approach to Food, Mood and Fitness

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

Theme 2. Optimizing capacity of interprofessional teams

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Presentation Slides: Telemedicine Impact Plus  

Theme 1. Population-based primary health care: planning and integration for the community

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An Improved Tool for Meaningful Program Planning