The Barrie-area Ontario Health Team planning group has been granted approval to proceed with a full application to become an Ontario Health Team (OHT).
In February, the People’s Health Care Act was introduced, which outlines changes to Ontario’s healthcare system. Changes include the development of OHTs, a news release says.
The aim of the provincial health teams is to integrate care to enable patients, families, communities and healthcare providers to work together to deliver high-quality, patient-focused care, according to the release.
The aim of the OHTs is for healthcare agencies to work collaboratively to deliver better coordinated care that helps patients better navigate the system.
“We have been working with healthcare partners in this region on a submission to form a Barrie OHT to transform patient care for residents,” John McKee of the Barrie Family Health Organization, and the co-chair of the Barrie-area OHT planning table, said in the release.
“This collaborative effort, led by our agency, has been approved by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to move to the next stage — a full application process.
“This is truly a remarkable achievement as there were over 150 submissions and only 31 were given the go-ahead to proceed with a full submission,” he added.
The full application is due in early October.
More consultation with the planning group’s partners and the public is planned for the near future, according to the release.