Building an Ontario Health Team for Eastern York Region and North Durham communities 

The healthcare landscape in Ontario is changing. The Province of Ontario has passed legislation to provide a new way of organizing and delivering services in local communities through the creation of Ontario Health Teams (OHTs). 

Markham Stouffville Hospital (MSH), in collaboration with people with lived experience, caregivers, residents, primary care partners and community service providers, is at the forefront of this initiative, with the development of the new Eastern York Region North Durham (EYRND) OHT. Under this new OHT plan, healthcare providers (including hospitals, doctors and home and community care agencies) will work as one coordinated team to meet the needs of our community.

Building on existing relationships, MSH partnered with a number of other organizations to create EYRND OHT. Through vigorous data analysis, consultation with the Regional Municipality of York (York Region), collaboration with over 100 primary care providers and input from over 2,000 community residents, our first year focal points were developed. These first year initiatives will focus locally to improve the care for clients who have mental health challenges and/or addictions, and those living with dementia (and their caregivers). 

Together with our partners, and with the support of the Government of Ontario, we will use our OHT to organize and deliver care that is more connected and centred on patients, families and caregivers. 

Year one priority population

The EYRND OHT year one priority populations are:

1. Clients with mental health challenges and/or addictions
2. People living with dementia
3. Caregivers of people living with dementia 

Our vision

• We will create infrastructure for a seamless health system that includes standardized assessments, integrated entry points and a portal for accessing and understanding all services available.
• Our performance indicators will drive towards key outcomes that demonstrate an improved patient experience, effective and efficient use of full system resources, improved health for our population and a thriving and engaged health workforce.
• Every point of contact will be safe, humane and person-centred, embedded in trusting relationships between clients and providers and among providers.

EYRND OHT partners 

The EYRND OHT includes a number of anchor partners (see our full list of partners). In addition, patients/clients and caregivers have been vital in all phases of the OHT work so far. Also, our OHT has strong support from our primary care providers.

Our OHT timeline

May 2019 •  As a first step in the process, MSH and partners submitted a self-assessment to the Ministry of Health. This introduced the Ministry of Health to our proposed team of partners and provided them with an overview of the target patient populations that would most benefit from an OHT in our community.
				July 2019 •  MSH and our partners received approval from the Ministry of Health to submit a full application for the OHT process. We furthered our intense planning with our community members and partners to put together a robust and well thought out application.
August and September 2019 • Targeted public events for community members and primary care providers were held in order to cultivate input on our community’s most pressing healthcare needs and to engage broader stakeholder groups to inform the full OHT application submission.   • A survey seeking insights from patients, family members and the general community was deployed in four languages. The survey results further helped to inform the development of the EYRND OHT.
				October 2019 • The full OHT application was submitted to the Ministry of Health.   • Representatives from Ministry of Health visited the EYRND OHT to learn more about our vision and implementation plan (see presentation slides).
November 2019 • Six co-design sessions were held across the EYRND OHT catchment area with over 200 participants, including community residents, people with lived experience, caregivers, care providers, front line staff, public health representatives and EMS staff.    • Themes captured from the sessions were summarized and used to lay the foundational work for the EYRND OHT.
				December 2019 •  The EYRND OHT was officially designated as one of the province's first Ontario Health Teams.

EYRND OHT Action Teams

Four Action Teams are being launched to help further guide the implementation of EYRND OHT:

• Action Team 1: Access and navigation 
• Action Team 2: Strengthen support and resources for primary care providers 
• Action Team 3: Digital connectivity 
• Action Team 4: Community education and mobilization 

The new OHTs will create a local healthcare system that provides coordinated care for patients, reduces wait times and leads to better health outcomes for patients. The team will take the guess work out of navigating the healthcare system and will also improve access to secure digital health tools, including health records and virtual care options. It will also work to reduce clinician burnout and lay the foundation for a sustainable future.

If you are interested in joining our Action Teams and/or sharing your input on the future work of the EYRND OHT, please feel free to contact Parisa Mehrfar, Manager, Integration and Planning, Markham Stouffville Hospital. Tel: 905-472-7373 ext 6394; pmehrfar@msh.on.ca.