Local health agencies who submitted an initial self-assessment to determine readiness to form an Ontario Health Team selected by the Ministry of Health to proceed to the next stage.
Sault Ste. Marie, ON – Local health agencies who submitted an initial self-assessment to determine readiness to form an Ontario Health Team (OHT) are pleased to announce that they have been selected by the Ministry of Health to proceed to the next stage of the process, which includes completion of a comprehensive full application.
The Algoma Ontario Health Team (OHT) would like to thank all the providers and organizations who have supported this work to date. Every member is committed to improving patient experience across the continuum of care.
What does this mean for local patients and residents? For now, it means united efforts to provide more coordinated health care services that are focused on the needs of people living in Algoma. Over time, participation in the Algoma OHT is expected to grow as partners join the OHT, and the goal is to make the local system easier to navigate for people who need health services.
To date, partners involved on the Algoma OHT include: Algoma District Medical Group, Algoma Family Services, Algoma Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic, Algoma Public Health, Algoma Residential Community Hospice, Autumnwood Group Inc., Group Health Centre, FJ Davey Home, Midwives of Algoma, North East Local Health Integration Network (NE LHIN) Home and Community Care, and Sault Area Hospital.
With representation and expertise from across the heath care continuum, the Algoma OHT will focus on delivering patient-centred care that will improve patient outcomes and experience, as well as better value for our health care dollars.
Over the next several weeks, the Algoma OHT partners will be working on completing the full application. The Ministry of Health will evaluate all applications, and a short list of groups will be selected for in-person visits to identify those most ready to begin implementation of the OHT model. If selected as an Ontario Health Team, the Algoma OHT will concentrate its initial efforts on the most complex and high-needs patients. Over time, the team will broaden its work to ensure better care for all patients. A draft implementation plan outlining this proposed approach was submitted as part of the self-assessment and will guide the start of this work. The first wave of OHTs will be identified in the late 2019.
OHTs are a new way of organizing and delivering services in communities across Ontario. Local health care providers, such as doctors, nurse practitioners, hospitals, home care providers and others, will work as one connected team, no matter where they provide care. OHTs will be responsible for understanding a patient’s health history and needs, directly connecting them to the types of care they need and working together to improve patient transitions throughout the care journey.
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