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

Providers and organizations eligible to become an Ontario Health Team include, but are not limited to, those that provide:

• • primary care (including inter-professional primary care and physicians)
  • secondary care (e.g., in-patient and ambulatory medical and surgical services (includes specialist services)
  • home care
  • community support services
  • mental health and addictions services
  • health promotion and disease prevention services
  • rehabilitation and complex care
  • palliative care (e.g., hospice)
  • residential care and short-term transitional care (e.g., in supportive housing, long-term care homes, retirement homes)
  • long-term care home placement
  • emergency health services
  • laboratory and diagnostic services
  • midwifery services, and
  • other social and community services and other services, as needed by the population.

There are many Ontario health Teams that have been established across Ontario, including the South Georgian Bay Ontario Health Team. The South Georgian Bay OHT works to create a connected health and social care system focused on what is most important to our local citizens.

The SGB OHT Partners have a long-standing history of collaboration, spanning more than a decade.

SOUTH GEORGIAN BAY HEALTH PARTNERS ARE SELECTED TO BECOME AN ONTARIO HEALTH TEAM.

Collingwood, Ontario – November 18, 2020 – Today, Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care announced the South Georgian Bay Ontario Health Team (SGBOHT) as one of 13 new Ontario Health Teams in the province to provide better, connected care to patients. The SGBOHT is one of 42 Ontario Health Teams in the province.

Through the Ontario Health Team model, patients will experience easier transitions from one provider to another, including, for example, between hospitals and long-term care, with one patient story, one patient record and one care plan.

“While still in its early stages, Ontario Health Teams are already breaking down long-standing barriers to better connect care for both patients and our frontline heroes,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “These teams have demonstrated remarkable responsiveness to the COVID-19 outbreak by helping to address challenges in a variety of areas, and they are essential to building a connected health care system centered around the needs of patients.”

The SGBOHT is comprised of partners across the health and social sectors including Community Connection, Georgian Bay Family Health Team, Georgian Bay Family Health Organization, Hospice Georgian Triangle, Breaking Down Barriers, Canadian Mental Health Association Simcoe County, South Georgian Bay Community Health Centre, Bay Haven Care Community, Entité 4, Collingwood General and Marine Hospital and Home and Community Care. The SGBOHT is also supported by the County of Simcoe, Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit and local townships and municipalities. Over the next year, the SGBOHT will continue to focus on creating a health care system that is designed locally with patients, families, caregivers and providers to meet the needs of its community.

Local population data analysis and a robust community engagement session with patients, families, health care providers, community organizations and residents, identified seniors with complex health conditions as the first-year patient population of focus for the SGBOHT. The goal of the SGBOHT will be to organize seamless care for these seniors and ensure they feel supported and connected to their community. This is especially critical during the pandemic as seniors, especially those with complex health issues, are especially vulnerable to COVID-19, and the associated challenges of living during the pandemic.