As chair of the Primary Care Network, Dr. Jodie Stewart collaborates with primary care organizations in the region to help more patients get access to doctors
Sault Ste. Marie’s Dr. Jodie Stewart was recently honoured by the Ontario College of Family Physicians for her outstanding work as a family physician, leader and advocate.
On Wednesday night, the OCFP presented Stewart with an award of excellence during a virtual ceremony.
Stewart, who is the CEO and board chair of the Algoma District Medical Group, dedicated the award to the “tremendous number of super dedicated primary care providers who are on the ground seeing patients every day.
“They all have the same goal – to provide excellent care to our community so that our community can thrive,” she said.
“This award has my name on it, but I am really representing the work that’s being done every day by the primary care providers that are on the ground doing the work and seeing patients.”
As chair of the Primary Care Network for the Algoma Ontario Health Team, Stewart collaborates with primary care organizations in the region to help more patients get access to doctors.
“I chair the committee so I bring the group together and try to move the work forward,” she said.
In October, Stewart helped announce that Group Health Centre was re-rostering 8,000 patients by December, with a goal of re-rostering a total of 14,000 patients by 2027.
Stewart said they’ve submitted funding proposals to increase the sizes of family health teams in the region, which will allow primary care providers to “work at the top of their scope.”
The OCFP also recognized Stewart’s work in partnership with the Sault Area Hospital to make sure all newborns have access to care from infancy to adulthood.
“This initiative came about several years ago where we were having capacity issues in primary care and it was identified that newborns are particularly vulnerable to not having immediate primary care on discharge from hospital,” she said.
Stewart said a group worked collaboratively with pediatricians and labour and delivery staff at the hospital “to develop processes where we can ensure smooth transitions for newborns into the community and guarantee they are getting the whole care they need to keep them safe and healthy.”