Inaugural multi-year strategic plan launched following locally led cross-sector consultation

Inaugural multi-year strategic plan launched following locally led cross-sector consultation

NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY – Monday, December 20, 2022 - The Ontario Health Team of Northumberland (OHT-N) has launched the region’s inaugural Strategic Plan on health and well-being priorities. 

Covering a four-year span inclusive of the consultative process that informed it, the OHT-N’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan seeks to bring together patients, caregivers, community members, health care and community service providers around a Northumberland County-first: three common, cross-sector areas of focus collectively seen as the top priorities to improve health and well-being in the county in the coming years. These areas of focus are:

• Improving access to primary and specialty care and services in our region
• Supporting older adults with complex conditions to live and age well at home
• Improving access and services for those who have mental health and addiction needs

Five supporting ‘pillars’ or enablers have also identified, to ensure Northumberland is well positioned to drive this work forward. They are:

1. Advocating together and coordinating county-wide solutions
2. Helping people navigate the system to find the care and support they need
3. Empowering our community of health and well-being supporters
4. Creating safe spaces for whole-person care and support where everyone is welcome
5. Creating the building blocks for a robust OHT-N

“Guided by a vision of ‘many boats, one light’, we’ve been inspired by and very grateful to the hundreds of individuals and organizations that accepted the OHT-N’s invitation to share, discuss and gather data as part of this process, to identify what that ‘light’ (or lights) should be. After proving we could work together very effectively since forming the OHT-N in 2020, and getting reassurance from the province that the OHT model is here to stay, it has been exciting to now set our future together,” said Adrienne Bell-Smith, Executive Director of the Northumberland Family Health Team and co-Chair for the OHT-N.

“Led by a Community Engagement Team of local stakeholders, we worked from March through November, using a mix of surveys, focus groups, and stakeholder interviews. To begin we logged more than 500 touch points with patients, caregivers, community members, health care and community service providers,” said Bell-Smith. “Five ‘Strategy Hives’ with over 170 participants followed, providing opportunities to dive deeper into the challenges and opportunities around the specific themes that emerged.”

“In addition to learning through experience and individual feedback, a review of data unique to our region formed the other part of our work,” added Trish Baird, CEO of Community Care Northumberland who shares the co-Chair role for the OHT-N.

“Population data, housing and homelessness statistics, primary care access data, local Emergency Room Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) data, Alternative Level of Care statistics, information on use of community paramedicine, long-term care wait list statistics and mental health service data and needs are just some of the data points reviewed,” said Baird.

Formed in December 2019 as one of the first OHTs in the province (there are now more than 50), OHT-N partners have to date mounted a successful COVID-19 response, opened a Rural Outreach Clinic in Colborne, worked with Northumberland Paramedics to launch a community paramedicine program for older adults living with complex conditions in rural areas and, with Community Care Northumberland, started recruitment and training for volunteers who will form the region’s first Volunteer Peer Support Program assisting older adults living with complex conditions.

In addition to its local focus, one of the distinguishing characteristics of Ontario’s new OHT model is its commitment to equal and authentic patient and caregiver partnership. In addition to representatives from area health care and community service agencies, local patient and caregiver partners have been at the OHT-N table from the earliest days of its evolution, and continue to play a direct role in advancing OHT-N priorities.

“As the Interim Chair of the OHT-N’s Experience Partner Council, and a member of the Community Engagement Team for this Strategic Plan, it has been rewarding and very interesting to have a voice in local planning for health and well-being priority setting,” said Lisa van der Vinne. “We have much work to do to engage and empower patient and caregiver partners around the core areas of primary care, support for seniors, and mental health and addictions, but we have strong working relationships in place and—most important—a common will to move forward. It is an exciting time to be part of this work in Northumberland.”

With this Strategic Plan, the OHT-N will build on what has worked, embark on new areas of focus recommended by the communities served, and look for more opportunities to bring the intentions of the locally-driven OHT model to life.