Where health meets community. We are one East Toronto.

 

 


Where health meets community. We are one East Toronto.

Building an Ontario Health Team for East Toronto

As part of its broader health system transformation strategy, the Government of Ontario has set in motion a plan to build a connected health care system centered on patients, families and caregivers through the creation of Ontario Health Teams.

Ontario Health Teams (OHTs) are a new way of organizing and delivering care that is more connected to patients in their local communities. Health care providers (including hospitals, doctors and home and community care providers) will work as one coordinated team – no matter where they provide care.

Building on a 25-year history of collaboration, in 2017, the CEOs of five organizations representing the continuum of care in East Toronto formed the foundation for an integrated care network – the East Toronto Health Partners (ETHP). Over the last two years, we have worked together with patients, families, community representatives and a range of partner organizations with a shared goal of building a ‘Network of Networks’ model of seamless care for our community.

Together, ETHP provides a comprehensive basket of health and social services, tailored to meet changing local needs. We provide primary to acute care, food security to supportive housing, home-based healthcare and community support services, long-term care, birth to end-of-life care, and settlement to employment.

At the centre of our model are the people we collectively serve; they were involved in the planning and design phases of the OHT application, and are engaged as active members of  ETHP. As we evolve and expand our partnership model, we will continue to follow a rigorous and inclusive engagement and co-design process to involve community members in East Toronto.

Our partnership is built on a legacy of trust in East Toronto, with a multi-decade track record of delivering ‘made in East Toronto’ solutions together with our partners for more than 20 years.

Getting to know your East Toronto Health Partners

The six anchor partners include: (Michael Garron Hospital, Providence Healthcare, South Riverdale Community Health Centre, VHA Home HealthCare and WoodGreen Community Services) and  East Toronto Family Practice Network (EasT-FPN).

Over the last year, we have also worked work with a multitude of other ‘engaged partners’ – peer  organizations with similar service offerings – in preparation of our OHT Full Application to the Ministry of Health. Learn more about our engaged partners.

Our OHT milestones

May 2019

ETHP submitted a Self-Assessment to the Ministry of Health for consideration as an OHT to deliver integrated health care services.

July 2019

The Ministry of Health identified ETHP to move to Full Application of OHT process.

August 2019

We began planning with partners for a shared investment in winter surge funding.

October 2019

Physician-led development of the EasT-FPN network that will play a critical leadership role in our integrated model of care, and be the voice for 260 primary care physicians in East Toronto – a first for Ontario.

October 2019

ETHP submitted a Full Application to the Ministry of Health.

Ministry of Health visited the Youth Wellness Centre at WoodGreen’s 815 Danforth location as a Community Site to learn more about our work.

December 2, 2019

ETHP signed Joint Venture Agreement.

December 3, 2019

Hon. Christine Elliott, Ontario Minister of Health, announced that ETHP has become one of the first 24 OHTs.

Moving forward, together

In addition to our anchor and engaged partners that are actively involved in the planning, funding and delivery of specific initiatives, we’ve identified a number of ‘supporting partners’ that have an interest in in remaining informed and involved. They, along with the patients, clients and caregivers we serve, will continue to work with us as we evolve our strategies to support our year one priority populations:

  1. Seniors with chronic care needs and caregivers
  2. Youth mental health and wellness
  3. Substance use and addictions

In all efforts, we are committed to our guiding principles co-designed early in this journey.

  1. We are guided by the needs of communities and the people we serve:
    • Build a system that responds to what we hear
    • Respectfully engage resident, patients and communities
    • Respect diversity of stakeholders, be guided by their voice, maximize equity
  1. We are committed to learning and continuous improving:
    • This is an evolving process
    • Development is evidence-informed and supported with evaluation
  1. We are committed to a process that is inclusive and transparent:
    • Implemented through collaborative/participatory model on a voluntary basis
    • Committed to consistency in how we communicate

We will be hosting a planning session with our engaged partners in January and launching a comprehensive strategic planning session in the spring.