Peterborough seeks Ontario Health Team

Team would draw together 22 partners to ease the transition for patients needing care

Peterborough is a contender for a new provincial approach to health care that’s aimed at improving the health of the community.

A group of health and community care partners filed an application to establish an Ontario Health Team (OHT).

It’s a new system for organizing and delivering services for patients at the local level.

Brenda Weir, vice president of Peterborough Regional Health Centre, said the city was one of 31 communities selected to apply for the initiative.

More than 150 communities have applied.

Peterborough’s OHT would be comprised of 22 partners, including those working in

health, housing, retirement and addiction services.

“It will work as a connected team, easing transitions for patients across the continuum of care,” Weir said.

Unlike the Peterborough Family Health Team, which focuses solely on primary care, OHT involves multiple agencies that are working to improve the health of the community.

The team won’t just focus on physical and mental health, but will also look at determinants of health, such as social need, homelessness, and poverty, for example.

“It’s broader than just the health, but if you have a healthier community, that impacts their health.”

OHT aims to break down “silos” of services, bringing agencies together to find solutions, she said.

“We really want to improve the transitions of care because between agencies people do get lost in the system.”

Peterborough’s team filed an application to develop the team and should hear if they have qualified in December, Weir said.

The group already has a plan in place for the first year of service, based on data that examined were help was needed most.

The target population will be frail, complex elderly patients, including patients with congestive heart failure, diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and those with mental health and addiction issues.

“These are people that require a lot of health and support services.”

Weir said Peterborough’s OHT would follow the province’s guiding principles for the initiative.

“Better patient and caregiver experience, better patient and population outcome, better value in efficiency and better provider experiences.”

The team won’t be all under one roof, per se, but Weir is hopeful that there’ll be one phone number for OHT, making it easier for people to connect with the services they need.

“This will help people navigate.”

Details of the new system still need to be ironed out, Weir said, but the first step is getting approved.

“It’s exciting,” she said. “It’s an opportunity we’ve never had before.”