About Northern York South Simcoe OHT

The Southlake Community Ontario Health Team and the South Simcoe Ontario Health Team have come together to create the new Northern York South Simcoe Ontario Health Team. Many factors, including increasing access to healthcare services for their communities, the proximity in geographic location, shared populations, and providing high-quality community healthcare were at the forefront of the decision to merge the two Ontario Health Teams (OHT).

About OHTs

An Ontario Health Team (OHT) is a group of healthcare providers who work together to deliver connected care to the communities they serve.

Within an OHT, healthcare providers will work together to improve both access to care for patients and the quality of that care. Through better collaboration, healthcare providers can offer improved services to patients, families and caregivers. In turn, we expect the health of the broader population to improve over time. This collaboration will also lead to improved experiences for both patients and providers.

OHTs are all about improving the delivery of healthcare services for patients. Healthcare providers (such as hospitals, family doctors and nurse practitioners, homecare providers, community support service agencies, mental health organizations, long-term care homes, and paramedic services) will directly partner together. These partnerships will improve efficiency and support the sustainability of our healthcare system for future generations.

OHTs were established under the new Connecting Care Act.

To learn more about the OHT model, click here to check out the Ministry’s OHT website. You can also click here to read “Connected Care” updates from the Ministry and sign up to receive them in the future.

Geographical Area We Serve

“By partnering together, we can improve access to care and better support families and caregivers as well.”

— Rebecca Shields,

CEO

Canadian Mental Health Association York Region and South Simcoe

“We are dedicated to ensuring people have access to high quality primary care, which is the basis for seamlessly accessing all parts of the healthcare system.”

— Dr. David Makary,

Family Physician

Southlake Academic Family Health Team

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Southlake@home

In March 2019, Southlake, Bayshore, CHATS and SE Health launched Southlake@home, the first initiative of its kind in Ontario.

Southlake@home was designed to improve care for older adults with complex medical and social needs who are transitioning home after an admission to Southlake. These patients require significant support to stay well at home.

Prior to Southlake@home, these types of patients waited an average of 14 days at Southlake for their homecare and community support services to be coordinated. This unnecessary extended stay in hospital puts them at increased risk for hospital-acquired infections. When they eventually went home, often they would come back to the Emergency Department soon after. In addition, during those 14 days that bed at Southlake was not able to be used for another patient in need, which led to longer wait times in our Emergency Department.

Since being launched, Southlake@home has proven that by working directly together, healthcare organizations can have a positive impact on health outcomes, how patients experience care, and clinician satisfaction, all at a reduced cost to the system.

Learn more about Southlake@home

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