#OneEastToronto shares the faces of East Toronto Health Partners (ETHP), a group of more than 50 community, primary care, home care, hospital and social services organizations in East Toronto working together to improve the way local residents access and receive care. Meet Dorothy Quon, director of assisted living programs at WoodGreen Community Services and lead for COVID-19 community testing programs at Michael Garron Hospital (MGH).
“I was at MGH for almost 15 years before I began a one-year secondment through this dual role with WoodGreen in December. I started my career at MGH as a registered nurse — I actually completed two work placements there as part of the nursing program at Ryerson University and was hired on after.
During my time at MGH, I was able to assist various departments in different roles, including the Patient Flow team and the Nurse-Led Outreach Team (NLOT) which works in the community. Most recently, I was the manager of the Emergency Department (ED) and MGH’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre where I had the chance to help protect our communities and hospital from COVID-19.
As part of my new role, I will continue to oversee the operations for the COVID-19 Assessment Centre, as well as East Toronto Health Partners’ (ETHP) pop-up testing sites and the testing-related outreach MGH conducts with schools and long-term care homes in the area. In addition, I’m overseeing the operation of a number of assisted living sites that WoodGreen runs in East Toronto. We want to make sure that we can support the residents of these sites so they can remain healthy, independent and in the community, rather than in the hospital.
I was excited about this dual role because it gives me a lens into a different realm of care. As more patients with complex care needs are being discharged into the community, building bridges between the hospital and East Toronto’s assisted living programs can only benefit our overall healthcare system. This helps ensure smoother pathways for our patients so they’re less likely to return to the hospital due to unmet needs.
What I’ve learned from my years in healthcare is that it’s difficult to do something on your own in an effective, sustainable way. You’re one cog in the machine and, if you’re not engaging and working collaboratively with other community agencies and service providers, it’s a lot harder to make long-term, positive change. There’s strength in numbers: together, we’re working to address gaps in the overall system to better provide care for our communities.”
Are you a member of East Toronto Health Partners (ETHP) who is interested in being featuring in our #OneEastToronto series or know someone who would be a great fit? Please email Lucy Lau, corporate communications coordinator at ETHP, at lucy.lau@tehn.ca.