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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Posted on January 9, 2020
Ontario Health Teams are being introduced to provide a new way of organizing and delivering care that is more connected to patients in their local communities. Under Ontario Health Teams, health care providers (including hospitals, doctors and home and community care providers) work as one coordinated team - no matter where they provide care. The Algoma Ontario Health Team has applied to become an OHT.
Learn more about Ontario Health TeamsView the Minister of Health Announcement
Posted on January 9, 2020
The first wave of Ontario Health Teams Candidates was identified in the fall of 2019.
Self-assessment intake and invitations to complete full applications will continue on a regular cycle until full provincial coverage is reached and every Ontarian is supported by an Ontario Health Team.
Health care providers and organizations eligible to become an Ontario Health Team include, but are not limited to those that provide:
primary care (including inter-professional primary care and physicians)
secondary care (e.g., in-patient and ambulatory medical and surgical services (includes specialist services)
home care
community support services
mental health and addictions services
health promotion and disease prevention services
rehabilitation and complex care
palliative care (e.g., hospice)
residential care and short-term transitional care (e.g., in supportive housing, long-term care homes, retirement homes)
long-term care home placement
emergency health services
laboratory and diagnostic services
midwifery services, and
other social and community services and other services, as needed by the population
Posted on January 9, 2002
Yes. As Ontario Health Teams are established, people’s choice of providers would continue.
Patients who are supported by providers who become part of an Ontario Health Team will not need to sign up or undertake any administrative processes. They will experience greater access to care and support from a broader network of other physicians and inter-professional providers, working together as a team to improve their care.
Posted on Janaury 9, 2020
Ontarians will continue to access care from their existing care providers. As Ontario Health Teams are created, Ontarians will be provided with information about the benefits of this model. Ontarians will still be able to choose who provides their care. As the province begins this work, Ontarians can be confident that they can continue to contact their health care providers as they always have to access the health care they need.
The Algoma District Medical Group is a group of physicians practicing at the Group Health Centre. We are a multi-specialty group providing both primary and specialty care.
Along with our allied health professionals, our aim is to provide comprehensive coordinated care for our patients. We strive to be leaders in healthcare through the use of an integrated EMR, innovative IT solutions and medical directives.
From a primary care perspective, we focus on preventative healthcare and chronic disease management.
Our goal is to provide patients with the best quality care through a system that is integrated with patient-directed goals of care.
Algoma Family Services is a provider of specialized services for children, youth, adults and families in the Algoma District. Our services are evidence-based, client-centred, family-focused and delivered by a team of skilled professionals.
Our work is focused in the following key areas:
• Child and youth mental health services
• Specialized programs for youth substance use, young offenders and family violence
• Community Partnerships, as a lead sponsor for a number of programs with local collateral agencies.
The Algoma Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic is a non-profit agency that provides primary care to residents of Sault Ste. Marie and surrounding area who are currently unattached to a primary care provider (Nurse Practitioner/ Physician).
The clinic provides accessible comprehensive, patient-focused care to patients across the lifespan, including health promotion, disease prevention, chronic health, and mental health management. Members of the clinic will be registered to a nurse practitioner and will have access to the clinic's multidisciplinary team which includes a registered nurse, registered practical nurses, social worker, pharmacist and administrative staff.
The team works collaboratively to aid patients in navigating the health system to coordinate integrated care within established community partnerships.
Algoma Public Health (APH) is a public health agency committed to improving health and reducing social inequities in health through evidence-informed practice. We work with individuals, families and community partners to promote and protect health and to prevent disease at the community level.
APH is one of 35 non-profit public health agencies in Ontario funded by local and provincial governments. We have 200 employees who deliver provincially legislated public health services and community programs. We are governed by an autonomous Board of Health and have strong community partnerships throughout the Algoma district.
APH has a main office in Sault Ste. Marie and three offices in the Algoma district: Blind River, Elliot Lake and Wawa.
Algoma Residential Community Hospice (ARCH) provides quality, compassionate care through end-of-life to Algoma District families at no cost. The emotional, spiritual, and physical comfort of our residents and their loved ones is our highest priority. The Hospice offers a home-away-from-home during one of life’s most important moments: the end-of-life journey.
In addition to residential hospice care (including bariatric and paediatric hospice care), ARCH offers community programs including outreach services, palliative patient advocacy, supportive care, grief counselling, children’s grief services, and support group programs. ARCH does not charge for services, however, is only partially government-funded, requiring $850,000 annually in community support as well as the generosity of over 140 volunteers to provide services to the community.
Since 1985, the Alzheimer Society of Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma District has been dedicated to improving the quality of life for people living with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias and to provide support to their caregivers as well as investing in research to find a cure. The Alzheimer Society will accomplish this through core values such as respect, compassion, integrity, accountability, partnerships and person-centred care.
The Canadian Mental Health Association Algoma (CMHA Algoma), chartered in 1963, is affiliated with a provincial network of 32 other Branches across Ontario. CMHA Algoma works closely with a variety of other community agencies including, but not limited to, hospitals, police services, schools, mental health and addiction agencies. Through its collaborative approach to education and services, the Branch is far-reaching and its programs touch many lives in the communities it serves.
Whether individuals are experiencing a mental illness, have a family member or friend with a mental illness, are a health care provider, an employer or are seeking information, CMHA Algoma is available to help.
District Social Services Administration Boards are special agencies created by the Province and given the responsibility to deliver Social Services within the community.
The District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board (DSSMSSAB) is one of ten DSSABs across the north.
The Board is comprised of eight (8) locally elected political representatives that meet regularly to conduct business relating to Social Services for the district that includes Sault Ste. Marie, Prince Township and 31 Unincorporated Townships that stretch from Sault Ste. Marie to Montreal River.
Social Services, is responsible for the provision and delivery of Ontario Works, Early Years Services, Housing Services and Paramedic Services.
Caring Environments for Everyday Living. The F.J. Davey Home is a three-level 374-bed long-term care nursing home located in Sault Ste. Marie. The Home is designed to care for its residents in a homelike environment within 12 Resident Home Areas (RHA’s). When you enter through the "front door" you find yourself in the living room with the dining room and dedicated activity room adjacent. The resident’s bedrooms are found down two corridors with access to the Spa area from either hallway. The Charting Centre found on each RHA provides easy access to nursing staff by residents and their families.
The Centre Court of the building houses staff offices and service areas on four levels. The other three levels are accessible to residents and visitors and contain management and administration offices as well as group activity areas such as the Celebration Room, Chapel, Tuck Shop and family dining rooms - Maple Court and Pine Court. Staff dedicated areas including their dining room and classroom are found on Level 3.
The F.J. Davey Home staff provide quality and compassionate care with a resident centred approach. Families are welcomed and encouraged to actively participate in the lives of our residents and activities in our Home.
Group Health Centre was founded in 1963 as one of the first union-sponsored community health centres in Canada. Founded by thousands of Sault Ste. Marie steelworkers, Group Health Centre promised its members primary and preventative care with no out-of-pocket cost at a time before provincial health insurance existed.
Since opening the doors over 50 years ago, the Centre has been a leader in medical innovation and the site of countless pilot projects and studies on a provincial, national, and international level. Some of the most notable successes include being the site for a World Health Organization study on preventative care in the 60s, being one of the first sites in Canada to employ “non-traditional nurses” (now known as Nurse Practitioners) in the 70s, and being one of the first sites in Canada to move to electronic medical records in the 90s.
Group Health Centre has won National Best Practice Awards, was featured in Maclean’s Magazine as one of Canada’s top ten models of healthcare, and was once referred to as “Canada’s best-kept health care secret” by Commissioner for the Future of Health Care in Canada, Roy Romanow.
The Réseau, in collaboration with its partners, plans, networks and engages with communities to improve access and equity to French language health services.
Created in 2003 and 2004 respectively, the Réseau francophone de santé du Nord de l’Ontario and the Réseau de santé en français du Moyen-Nord share a common vision for the provision of French language health services in a minority context.
In order to answer the requirements of a call for proposals from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) regarding the creation of Francophone Planning Entities, the Réseau francophone de santé du Nord de l’Ontario and the Réseau de santé en français du Moyen-Nord, merged their resources and created a new organization in 2010: the Réseau du mieux-être francophone du Nord de l’Ontario (Réseau). The Réseau was created to meet the requirements of the MOHLTC for a Francophone Planning Entity in Northern Ontario, as identified in the Local Health System Integration Act (2006).
The creation of the Réseau ensured that engagement with communities continues and that their voices were heard when working with government officials on ways to improve the health of Francophones living in a minority setting in Northern Ontario.
Serving a catchment population of approximately 115,000, Sault Area Hospital (SAH) provides primary, secondary and select tertiary services to residents in Sault Ste. Marie and the District of Algoma. In addition to providing core services in Emergency and Critical Care; Medicine; Surgery; Obstetrics, Maternity and Pediatrics; Mental Health and Addictions; Complex Continuing Care; and Rehabilitation, Cardiac Care Services including coronary angioplasty through a partnership with St. Michael’s Hospital, SAH is also home to the Algoma Regional Renal Program and the Algoma District Cancer Program including radiation therapy services.
SAH is extremely proud of our entire team of over 1700 dedicated staff, 365 physicians and 535 volunteers.
A Family Health Team (FHT) is an approach to primary health care that brings together different health care providers to co-ordinate the highest possible quality of care for you - the patient. Designed to give doctors support from other complementary professionals, most Family Health Teams will consist of doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners and other health care professionals who work collaboratively, each utilizing their experience and skills so that you receive the very best care, when you need it, as close to home as possible. Superior Family Health Team's affiliated physician group is the Sault Family Health Organization.