Ontario has unveiled its new integrated public health care system called Ontario Health. Last February the Ontario Health Minister announced that there were plans in the works, and now we are seeing those changes begin to integrate.
The Ontario government started by merging nine of the province's fourteen Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs') as well as five of the six Health Agencies with a look to focus resources so health care dollars are used more efficiently. Ontario Health Teams are being introduced to provide a new way of organizing and delivering care to strengthen local services and make it easier for patients to connect with a host of providers, including primary care physicians, specialists, community support services, mental health and addiction services, and home care.According to the Government of Ontario, the new agency will integrate key responsibilities by absorbing the work of existing provincial health agencies and programs into their new model, and all under one umbrella. Ontario Health will oversee health care delivery with a central point of accountability that can provide very specialized provincial health care beyond the capacity of local care delivery.
They have announced to the public that the complete transformation is set to take place over a number of years in carefully planned phases to ensure that patient care is not interrupted and a smooth roll out.
The new anticipated alignment has been both praised and criticized, but what the public has been assured of is that the health care services patients receive will be uninterrupted, and that they will continue to access the care they need by the providers they trust.
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