Integrated Neighbourhood Home Care Program

Many organizations and teams in East Toronto work together to identify and refer eligible clients and provide home care services in this program. These organizations and teams include: 

• Closing the Gap Healthcare
• East Toronto Care Network (EastTCaN)
• East Toronto Family Practice Network (EasT-FPN) 
• Health Access Taylor-Massey 
• Health Access Thorncliffe Park 
• Michael Garron Hospital 
• Ontario Health atHome
• Providence Healthcare (Unity Health Toronto) 
• The Neighbourhood Group 
• TNO – The Neighbourhood Organization 
• VHA Home HealthCare
• WoodGreen Community Services 

 All of these organizations and teams are part of East Toronto Health Partners (ETHP), the Ontario Health Team serving East Toronto. 

In September 2024, Ontario Health named Closing the Gap Healthcare and VHA Home HealthCare as the service provider organizations that will provide home care services for eligible clients in East Toronto as part of this program. 

Closing the Gap and VHA are trusted home care providers with long histories of serving communities in Ontario. They are proud members of ETHP.

No, as of late January 2025, only individuals who are not already receiving publicly funded home care services are eligible for the Integrated Neighbourhood Home Care Program. 

In the future, eligibility may expand to other individuals, including those who already receive publicly funded home care and would like to transition to this program. 

If you already receive home care, we encourage you to continue doing so as long as you need those services and are happy with the care you are receiving. If you have feedback about your care, we encourage you to speak with your home care provider. 

If you are eligible to receive home care services through this program, we encourage you to speak with your healthcare provider to discuss participating in this program. This program may help you to experience better, more connected care from different healthcare and social services providers who work together as one team. 

If you are a loved one of someone who is eligible, you may also have a better experience working with different healthcare and social services providers to ensure your loved one gets the care they need. This may mean less stress and more peace of mind for you and your family. 

How home care is currently provided: 

• In Ontario, many healthcare, social services and community providers operate independently. For example, if you need care from a family doctor, a dietitian and a personal support worker, you may need to find each of these providers separately.   
• These providers may not share information amongst themselves. You may need to repeat yourself a number of times as each provider conducts its own healthcare needs assessment.   

How home care will be provided through the Integrated Neighbourhood Home Care Program: 

• Healthcare and social services providers in East Toronto work together as one team. They share information and communicate with each other and with you. As your needs change, they can adjust the care you receive.    
• This means patients will receive the care they need at home at the right time from the right provider. In this new model, patients have help navigating the healthcare and social services system with providers who know their health history. 

Thorncliffe Park and Taylor-Massey are two neighbourhoods in East Toronto where people face health inequities, as reported in City of Toronto and hospital data. For example, people may have difficulty getting the care they need because of challenges related to transportation, employment or getting groceries. These are two neighbourhoods with a large population of seniors and people with chronic and complex health needs.    

As our team delivers home care services in these neighbourhoods, we will measure the performance and success of our work to ensure we are meeting the needs of our patients and communities we serve. 

We will explore opportunities to expand the model to other neighbourhoods in East Toronto over time as funding and resources allow. 

We need new ways to meet the growing need for home care in Ontario as more people get older and as more people live independently for longer at home, whether by choice or due to a lack of alternate care options. There are also opportunities to improve the way home care is currently provided. This includes improving communication between healthcare and social services providers, and creating better experiences for the people who need home care and the people who provide it.  

We have heard feedback from community members in East Toronto that, in home care, they value skilled and reliable workers, timely and reliable services, and compassionate care. These are things we aim to provide in the Integrated Neighbourhood Home Care Program. 

Improving home care is also part of the process of making healthcare better for everyone in Ontario. This helps ensure easier transitions between points of care for people and to help make sure they have convenient access to care when and where they need it. 

Ontario Health Teams, also known as OHTs, were introduced by the Ontario Government in 2019. They are a better way to organize and deliver services in local communities to provide patients with better connected, more integrated care.  

Under OHTs, the healthcare providers who care for you (including hospitals, doctors and home and community care providers) work together as one coordinated team – no matter where they provide care.   

There are more than 50 OHTs, including East Toronto Health Partners (ETHP). Within ETHP, there are more than 100 community, primary care, home care, hospital and social services organizations in East Toronto, as well as patient/client, caregiver and community advisors, working together to better connect local care and services. Learn more about ETHP.