After over a year of collaboration, the proposed North Simcoe Ontario Health Team (NSOHT) was notified by the government on July 23 that its submission to form an Ontario Health Team (OHT) is one of 17 Ontario Health Teams (OHT) approved to proceed to the next phase of the development process.
The NSOHT consists of four formal alliance partners – Centre de santé Communautaire CHIGAMIK Community Health Centre (CSC Chigamik CHC), Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH), the North Simcoe Family Health Team and Wendat Community Programs.
The partners, who represent primary care, acute care and mental health, have a long history of collaboration in the planning and delivery of health and social services in North Simcoe. In early December, the NSOHT submitted a readiness self-assessment to the Ministry of Health.
In this assessment, the partners explained the rationale of forming the OHT and outlined its initial plans to integrate care for their target population of complex and frail seniors. The goal of the NSOHT is organize seamless care for these seniors between primary care, acute care and mental health to the best outcomes. “We are very pleased to be moving forward in forming the NSOHT,” says Gail Hunt, president and CEO, GBGH.
“This is a new approach to integrating care and we hope the seniors’ population in our area can significantly benefit from this collaboration. All four partners bring unique and important specialties to the OHT, but among the things we have in common, there is a shared commitment. We all want to improve care and the patient experience through thoughtful service design and input from clients and patients.”
The full application – due Sept. 18 – requires detailed information about NSOHT’s target population, team, transformation, collaboration, continuous learning, quality improvement, risk analysis, home and community care, digital health and COVID preparedness plans.
The four formal alliance partners continue to meet regularly and engage other key members of the community such as the North Simcoe Sub-Region Planning Table, elected officials, First Nation Métis Inuit (FNMI), nurse practitioners and physicians. “This is an opportunity for health care providers in our region to re-imagine the best possible care of our community,” says David Jeffery, executive director, CSC Chigamik CHC. “The new OHT model of care will allow us to improve the health of our community by ensuring patients’ experiences are seamless across care providers and settings. This will help our target population connect with the care they need, when they need it.”
Throughout the development of the NSOHT, more than 20 health and social service providers have come together to prioritize service needs and identify opportunities for improvement.