The 2^nd Annual AFHTO Bright Lights Awards celebrate the leadership and significant progress being made to improve the value delivered by AFHTO members to 3 million patients across Ontario. Winners were announced at the October 22 Awards Dinner at the AFHTO 2013 Conference, attended by over 250 people AFHTO members, senior representatives from government, Health Quality Ontario, and some of the associations who, along with AFHTO, work together as the Ontario Primary Care Council.

Minister’s Medal Honours Excellence in Health Quality and Safety Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Deb Matthews, is inviting individuals and organizations to showcase their high-quality patient-centered care programs. This annual medal will recognize excellence in collaboration, sustainability, measurable outcomes and value. Completed applications must be submitted to your LHIN office by 5:00 p.m. on September 16. Successful recipients will be recognized at HQO’s Health Quality Transformation 2013 event on November 21, 2013.

Congratulations to the Wise Elephant and West Carleton Family Health Teams, first and third-place winners in Canada Health Infoway’s ImagineNation Outcomes Challenge, competing in the Patient Access to Health Information category against teams across the country.

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.

Today's edition of the Healthydebate Weekly Digest features the work done by Dorval Medical FHT to deliver high quality of care, high capacity and lower than average costs through measurement and reporting.  Click here to read the story.

Demonstrating and Celebrating the Value of Family Health Teams – this is the focal point of the AFHTO 2012 Conference, and the reason for launching the AFHTO Bright Lights Awards program.  These awards recognize the leadership, outstanding work and significant progress being made to improve the value delivered by family health teams.

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario launched a task force, bringing together key stakeholders to review the role of almost 4,300 primary care nurses (RNs and RPNs) currently practising in Ontario.

The Task Force focused on two progressive phases of outcomes.

Wellington hospitals, Family Health Teams, Community Care Access Centres and Mental Health Services signed a collective agreement last Wednesday aimed at optimizing health and patient care in our rural communities. The local rural health partners include Groves Memorial Community Hospital, North Wellington Heath Care, Minto-Mapleton, Mount Forest and Upper Grand Family Health Teams, Waterloo Wellington Community Care Access Centre and Trellis Mental Health and Developmental Services.

Four AFHTO members are profiled in two Success Studies found in Quality Monitor 2011 Report on Ontario's Health System, released today:

(New York, N.Y.): A ground-breaking Canadian blood pressure education program will be a powerful tool in fight to reduce stroke around the world. This morning, Dr. Sheldon Tobe, Chair of the Canadian Hypertension Education Program (CHEP) and a long-standing Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher, unveiled a new and powerful tool in the management of hypertension at the American Society of Hypertension (ASH) Scientific Meeting —The Heart&Stroke Hypertension Management Program.