Ontario Health Teams Must Evolve Based on Lessons Learned from COVID-19

TORONTO, July 23, 2020 /CNW/ - Today, the government of Ontario announced that five additional Ontario Health Teams (OHTs) have been approved to move forward. The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) congratulates these collaborative teams of providers for their hard work to date, and strongly supports efforts to better-integrate Ontario's healthcare system.

The OHA encourages the government to take the opportunity to apply lessons learned over the past few months to the concept of OHTs as a whole. COVID-19 has revealed deep cracks in Ontario's healthcare system, flaws which healthcare providers and decision-makers have only begun to understand and reckon with because we are still in the midst of the crisis.

At the height of Wave One, the COVID-19 emergency showed us that the system can achieve extraordinary things when we are all mobilized around a common cause. By putting the person receiving care at the centre of our work, we freed up capacity and allowed the healthcare system to focus on what matters most ? the safety and well-being of Ontarians.

But the crisis has also revealed serious vulnerabilities in our system. In some cases, we saw tragic consequences as a result of a long-term care system that is isolated and not well-integrated with the rest of the healthcare system. The crisis highlighted the need to rapidly accelerate virtual care, and strengthen public health, primary care, and home and community care. It also raised important questions about how we must prioritize support to our most vulnerable populations and those with mental health needs.

We have learned a great deal already during the pandemic ? and we are still learning. Given that all OHTs are still pre-operational, this is the ideal time to thoughtfully consider how to adjust and adapt a model that was created before the pandemic. Collaborative, integrated care remains the right foundational approach, but we would be wrong to ignore the lessons we have learned during the pandemic. Now is the time for a different ? and perhaps more ambitious ? vision for a truly integrated healthcare system in Ontario.

          - Anthony Dale, President and CEO, Ontario Hospital Association

SOURCE Ontario Hospital Association