The Integration of Health Services In Northwestern Ontario report released
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY REPORT
Integrated Service Plan for Northwestern Ontario : Report of the Special Advisor, Tom Closson
16 pages | 190 k | PDF format
FULL REPORT
Integrated Service Plan for Northwestern Ontario : Project Report Submitted to the Special Advisor
284 pages | 981 k | PDF format
"I want to thank Tom Closson for spearheading a truly collaborative and comprehensive report and the steering committee for their energy and ideas," Smitherman said. "The analysis and recommendations will be invaluable to the North West Ontario Local Health Integration Network as it works to improve local health services for area residents."
Smitherman provided the report to Dr. John Whitfield, Chair, North West Ontario LHIN, today to use in local health planning efforts. Smitherman said that the report may serve as a model for how LHINs across the province can approach local health care planning.
Last May, Closson, then president and CEO of the University Health Network, was named by the government to work with the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, other local providers and the ministry on a plan to help the hospital better achieve its role as a regional hospital and to improve health service integration throughout northwestern Ontario.
The Closson report contains 21 recommendations on how to better integrate and coordinate local health care services, including acute hospital care, primary care, long-term care, mental health and addiction and regional health management.
"The North West Ontario LHIN will carefully consider the recommendations in Tom Closson's report," said Whitfield. "The insights and advice were the result of broad community input and will challenge us to work together to raise the quality of local health care."
"It is my hope that Mr. Closson's recommendations will allow us to solve the challenges of providing equitable and appropriate care to the diverse communities that make up the north west," said Michael Gravelle, MPP Thunder Bay-Superior North. "The recommendations will help ensure that Thunder Bay Regional Hospital is open to the entire region."
This initiative is part of the McGuinty government's plan to build a health care system that delivers on three priorities - keeping Ontarians healthy, reducing wait times and providing better access to doctors and nurses.
For further information :
Members of the media :David Spencer, (416) 327-4320 | Dan Strasbourg, (416) 314-6197 |
Members of the general public : (416) 327-4327, or (800) 268-1154
+++++++++++++++++
June, 2005
Vision for the Restructuring of Health Services in Northwestern Ontario :
Improve the health status of people in Northwestern Ontario through an emphasis on health education, disease prevention, health maintenance and access to health services that incorporates the physical and mental health of the population.
This vision requires significant attention to the restructuring, integration and enhancement of primary community care and primary hospital care. The recommendations in this report will maximize the population's access to health services by integrating services along the continuum of care, emphasizing culturally sensitive service delivery and providing services as close to home as is feasible with respect to the safety of care, quality of care and the economics of the care delivery systems.
The Report of the Special Advisor contains the recommendations that will provide the best opportunities for system enhancement, while clarifying the important role of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) within the system. The Hay Report to the Special Advisor includes all of the data gathered over the past nine months in Northwestern Ontario, literature reviews, summaries of consultations that took place during that time and summaries of over 70 submissions received from the community with regard to the work of the Special Advisor. In addition, the Special Advisor received invaluable advice and assistance from a Steering Committee made up of community leaders and health care professionals who live and work throughout Northwestern Ontario.