An Open Letter from AFHTO, NPAO and the OCFP on PPE in Primary Care During COVID-19

April 15, 2020

An open letter regarding PPE in Primary Care during COVID-19 was released today from the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO), Nurse Practitioners' Association of Ontario (NPAO) and the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP). On behalf of our members - who are caring for patients in communities across Ontario in the midst of COVID-19 - we are seeking urgent assistance from Ontario's Ministry of Health in ensuring access to appropriate PPE in order to safeguard patient access to primary care.

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Highlights
COVID-19
advocacy
Access to Care
infection prevention and control

How Lakelands FHT Handled a Positive COVID-19 Result At Their Clinic

As told by Dr. Matt Dumas, Lead Physician, Lakelands FHT*

In late March, Lakelands FHT discovered that there was a positive case at our Northbrook site. That resulted in the immediate closure of our building. We all had to go home and finish 14 day periods of self-isolation. To our surprise, this meant having to distance ourselves from our own families, which was very difficult.

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COVID-19
Management/Operations
Public health
Access to Care
Care for Specific Populations
Highlights

Offering Patients a Medical Home – Not a Hallway – and a Stronger Health System

Body

Healthcare Quarterly 22(3) October 2019

 

Abstract

This article examines three family health teams (FHTs) in different Ontario communities that exemplify the features of a Patient's Medical Home (PMH), a vision developed by the College of Family Physicians of Canada. With PMH supports and foundations in place, these FHTs deliver high-quality care enabled by strong PMH functions: accessible, comprehensive, patient- and family-centred continuous care that is responsive to a community's unique needs. Adhering to PMH principles not only improves patient experience, health outcomes and provider satisfaction but also leads to fewer unnecessary hospital admissions and emergency room visits – system savings and better use of public resources.

Featured FHTs:

  • Marathon FHT's High-Yield Approach to Risk Mitigation and Safety (HARMS): A program for safer opioid prescribing through systematic risk stratification and urine drug testing

  • Markham FHT's Eating Disorders Bridge Program

  • Peterborough FHT: New services improve primary care access to an underserviced region

Authors

  • Leanne Clarke, CEO, Ontario College of Family Physicians
  • Kavita Mehta, CEO, Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario.

 

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