East Toronto OHT Workstreams
More information will be added soon. In the meantime, just the basics!
What: Work on the four existing East Toronto OHT Workstreams:
Seniors and Chronic Disease
Seniors with chronic care needs experience high levels of hospital admission with long lengths of stay. “Home 2Day” transitions COPD inpatients from MGH to home sooner with enhanced home care service. ETHP plans to expand this approach with those hospitalized with heart failure or pneumonia.
IF you have ideas/suggestions/comments on this work stream please contact us at: contact@eastfpn.org
Youth and Mental Health:
By exploring the expansion of Youth Health Centres/Wellness Hubs in East Toronto, EHTP is looking to facilitate connections between primary care and youth mental health and wellness providers.
Certain neighbourhoods in East Toronto have 3 times higher Emergency use for youth mental health than the Toronto Central average. East Toronto has ~ 8000 youth living with mental health conditions.
IF you have ideas/suggestions/comments on this work stream please contact us at: contact@eastfpn.org
The EasT-FPN is actively working in the Primary Care Integration working sub-group, to co-design and improve access to mental health services across east Toronto, (1) by leveraging on existing programs such as SCOPE, and (2) through implementing tests of change in priority neighborhoods such as Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park.
The formation of integrated care teams, comprised of mental health service providers (from different organizations), closely working with Family Practitioners, are being envisioned by this Working Group.
If you are a family physician in one of the priority neighborhoods in east Toronto, and you would like to be involved in these tests of change, please feel free to reach out to the EasT-FPN at contact@eastfpn.org
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Substance Use and Adult Mental Health:
Withdrawal management beds are difficult to access across Toronto. In particular, there are no female withdrawal management beds within our East OHT and limited numbers of crisis withdrawal management beds. Planning around this issue is well underway.
A new mental health hub will be opening in the New Year with partners across the EHTP at Warden Woods. This hubs aim to increase community supports and access to substance use reduction services.
Linking those with substance use disorders to community services post discharge from emergency room is needed. Models are being explored to help enable this process.
IF you have ideas/suggestions/comments on this work stream please contact us at: contact@eastfpn.org
Priority Neighbourhoods
East Toronto includes five “Neighbourhood Improvement Areas” as defined by the City of Toronto. An example of our work in one of these priority neighbourhoods is our partnership with Health Access Thorncliffe Park, a formal collaboration between Flemingdon Health Centre and The Neighbourhood Organization. Health Access Thorncliffe Park provides primary care, health and social services, and wraparound services to the Thorncliffe Park community, and is leading the development of a new multi-service neighbourhood centre scheduled to open in 2021. To address high usage of the hospital emergency department, and to better link inter-professional teams to local family physicians, the partners worked together to develop a Neighbourhood Care approach. In Year 1, we will expand access to neighbourhood-based inter-professional teams through our evolving Family Practice Network and community service partners.
In Thorncliffe Park, an After-hours Clinic is currently serving patients during the winter months, in collaboration with local primary care providers and Michael Garron Hospital. This community surge project is a test of change, that involved co-design work by EasT-FPN physicians, to ensure access to ambulatory care, during the winter surge months, designed to overcome barriers to care.
The services can be accessed by patients experiencing language barriers to care, because phone translation is available to all patients if needed. Care can also be accessed by patients with or without OHIP, and without negation to their own family MD’s FHO.
IF you have ideas/suggestions/comments on this work stream please contact us at: contact@eastfpn.org
Who’s Currently Involved from the Interim Team:
Seniors and Chronic Disease: Dr. Brian Adno, Dr. Michael Chu, Dr. Kevin Workentin
Youth and Mental Health: Dr. Ruth Hussman, Dr. Drew Heyding
Substance Use Working Group: Dr. Karen Chu, Dr. Jane Pritchard
Priority Neighbourhoods: Dr. Jane Pritchard, Dr. Drew Heyding, Dr. Catherine Yu
Have input about any of the above? Interested in joining a working group? Please contact us!