There has been much progress in the past few months with some limited but important start-up funding from the Ministry of Health. The Steering Committee, of which I am a member, has approved the following projects to begin our journey of creating an identity to the public and investing in front-line staffing focused around our priority populations of older adults with complexity/frailty and mental health conditions.
- We are hiring a Project Management Office lead to help integrate our Primary Care and Community Care Hub strategy. This is a best practice we have learned from other successful OHTs. A role description is attached and the contact is Madeline Abbott, Talent Acquisition & Client Associate at Lakeridge Health via maabott@lh.ca
- We are hiring a geriatric community nurse to begin to work within the existing geriatric services focus on community assessments and this resource will report to Community Care Durham to be integrated into all service provider networks. https://www.communitycaredurham.on.ca/wp- content/uploads/2021/04/2021-08-Clinical-Nurse-Specialists.pdf
- We are co-funding a great Community Hub initiative for families with pediatric complexity. Our funding is part of a model headed by Grandview Kids with Sick Kids, Complex Care and Lakeridge and includes extending technology to the families to better connect via video to the multitude of providers they deal with. https://www.thestar.com/local-oshawa/life/health-wellness/2021/04/23/health-care-close-to-home-for-durham-kids-with-complex- needs.html
- We are funding an infrastructure project to look at coordinating and messaging across all service providers who work with our targeted populations and this is an underlying critical step in communicating, avoiding transitions and providing team-based care.
- We are providing funding to help form and integrate a Durham Primary Care Network headed by Dr Lubna Tirmizi and others. This is an essential and foundational piece of developing an OHT and again, is reflective of the best practices of other OHTs we have reviewed.
- We have secured some limited, time-sensitive funding for our Patient Engagement Work Group and this will become the model to begin our expansion of a complete Durham OHT PFAC as we progress.
Clearly, we are moving from intentions to action!
