February 2023 Newsletter

February Newsletter Highlights

Virtual Care Guidance for Primary Care

Ontario Health has released new virtual care guidance materials to support primary care clinicians in making decisions related to the planning and delivery of virtual care (via different modalities, including phone, video and email/messaging)
Especially helpful are the customizable patient-facing materials to assist patients in understanding the benefits and limitations of different modalities when seeking care (available in English and French, but will be translated into a number of other languages common to East Toronto soon!)
Please take a moment to review the guidance documents, complete this survey and submit your details to receive a $25 gift card for your time and effort! Please contact us at contact@eastfpn.org with any questions.

SCOPE Mental Health Program

For a limited time, SCOPE has expanded their Mental Health Program!
Types of assessments offered include: psychodiagnostic assessments, assessments for intellectual disabilities and ADHD assessments
Click here for more information about the program and how to refer

FINAL CALL! Funding for Online Appointment Booking (OAB)

Funding is still available (~$750 per NP or MD) to support clinics to go live with Online Appointment Booking solutions by March 31st, 2023
OAB solutions are designed to reduce the administrative workload around appointment bookings, by enabling patients to electronically book appointments with their family doctors and nurse practitioners and receive automated confirmations and reminders
Take advantage of this time-limited funding support and contact us at contact@eastfpn.org to learn more about this initiative or to sign up!

The Current Health Human Resource Crisis

Many patients are at risk of being left without a family doctor in the near future as the number of doctors retiring is exceeding recruitment of new family doctors.
In a morning interview, Dr. Jane Pritchard, member of the EasT-FPN, shared her personal journey as a retiring family doctor and her struggle to find a replacement for her patients.
Click here for the full Metro Morning interview.

Community and Specialist Resources

Feeling stressed or challenged due to COVID-19? Register for a free 6-week Mindfulness Program designed to help develop and sustain emotional well-being during these turbulent times. Click here for more information and to register.
Health Access Taylor Massey (HATM) is a healthcare, community and social services centre located in Crescent Town. HATM offers a range of services including COVID-19 testing, vaccine and prescriptions, mental health counseling and social services; click here for a complete list

Practice Supports and Patient Resources

Want to have easy and secure communication with the hospital and community care providers? Visit the EasT-FPN website for more information on Hypercare.
Ocean eReferral continues to expand in East Toronto – if you are interested in using Ocean eReferral, please contact the eServices Team:eReferral@ehealthce.ca.
Become an EasT-FPN member to receive clinical and practice support, and opportunities to engage with the East Toronto community. Please fill out the Membership application form to become a member