Providers, patients and community members discuss ETHP’s next steps in acceleration at biannual planning session

Staff from our partner organizations; patient and caregiver advisors; and community health ambassadors at Access Point on Danforth.

On January 22, East Toronto Health Partners (ETHP), the Ontario Health Team (OHT) serving East Toronto, hosted its first planning session of 2024 at Access Point on Danforth.

More than 100 people attended the meeting, including staff from our 100-plus partner organizations; patient, family and community advisors; and community health ambassadors. The biannual session offers individuals from across ETHP the chance to connect in-person, hear updates from the OHT and contribute feedback to projects and initiatives.

At the event, colleagues from Ontario Health shared updates on the next steps in ETHP’s journey in acceleration. In November, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Ontario Health named ETHP as one of 12 OHTs selected to advance rapidly toward maturity. This means ETHP will be supported to test new models of care, share lessons learned and provide peer leadership to support the work of all OHTs.

To help ensure partners across our OHT are engaged in these next steps, planning session attendees had the opportunity to share their thoughts and insights on ETHP’s future governance model. They also provided feedback on ETHP’s shared purpose.

A number of our advisors, including Mohammad Shabani, Vicky Beach and Omar Khan – members of our Community Advisory Council and Taylor-Massey Residents Wellness Council (TMRWC) – also shared remarks. Razia Rashed, co-chair of our TMRWC, shared successes of our OHT over the past six months, including the grand opening of the Thorncliffe Park Youth Wellness Hub, the Open House at the Oakridge Health and Harm Reduction Hub, and the launch of our updated Cold, Flu and COVID-19 Resources page.

Anne Wojtak and Dr. Jeff Powis, Lead and Medical Lead of Integrated Care at ETHP, respectively, shared additional updates and answered questions. Thank you to everyone for attending the session and sharing your valuable feedback and insights, which will guide our work in continuing to better connect local care and services in East Toronto.

A special thank you to our partners at Access Alliance for hosting our OHT in your space, and to our advisors and community health ambassadors for graciously lending your time to ensure a successful event.

We look forward to co-designing the future of care and sharing more updates from our OHT soon!