Lindsay, Ont. (September 21, 2020) – The Kawartha Lakes Ontario Health Team (KL-OHT) submitted its full application to become a designated Ontario Health Team (OHT) to the Ministry of Health on Friday, September 18, 2020. The KL-OHT was one of 17 OHTs provincially to be invited to submit a full application in July. The KL-OHT will learn whether it is an approved OHT by Monday, October 19, pending any unanticipated delays associated with COVID-19.

Ontario Health Teams are being introduced to provide a new way of organizing and delivering care that is more connected to patients in their local communities. Under OHTs, healthcare providers (including hospitals, doctors and home and community care providers) work as one coordinated team – no matter where they provide care.

Client/patient representatives are at the table to collaborate in the transformation of care. If you are interested in being a client/patient representative, please contact KL-OHT through the website at https://kawarthalakesoht.ca/.

“We are proud of the work done by our OHT partners to lay the foundation for the future of connected care throughout the City of Kawartha Lakes,” said Barb Mildon, CEO, Community Care City of Kawartha Lakes and Co-Lead of the KL-OHT. “Together, we’ve submitted an application that reflects the hard work and expertise of each of our partners.”

The KL-OHT has made significant progress since it was invited to submit its full application on July 23. The KL-OHT has established working groups to enhance the patient and provider experience, including a digital working group with the aim of providing easily accessible virtual and digitally enabled care, and a care navigation working group that aims to break down existing siloes across all care sectors thereby streamlining how patients, clients, families and caregivers navigate through multiple care and service providers.

Additionally, KL-OHT partners worked together to develop the COVID-19 Assessment Centre, and collaborated throughout the pandemic on our community’s public testing strategy. The COVID-19 Assessment Centre has been successful in directing those requiring assessment and testing away from the emergency department and primary care offices. “Our OHT has already made positive headway in the community by connecting with patients and caregivers, as well as by providing a high-capacity, convenient COVID-19 assessment centre through a collaborative effort,” said Veronica Nelson, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Ross Memorial Hospital, and Co-Lead of the KL-OHT. “We are confident in our KL-OHT application and look forward to implementing the priority projects to provide connected care for our patients and clients.”

About Kawartha Lakes Ontario Health Team

The Kawartha Lakes Ontario Health Team is a collaborative group of health and service providers, who have partnered to provide quality, patient-centred care across the City of Kawartha Lakes. By putting the patient at the centre of the healthcare system, the organization strives to help them navigate the system in an efficient and cooperative way.

For more information, visit www.kawarthalakesoht.ca.

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