‘We would like to position it somewhere where there is some infrastructure that we can enhance and modify,’ official told council of proposed hub for Severn<\/p>\n
Health officials are asking Severn Township to partner on a proposed community health hub as they work to connect thousands of unattached residents with primary care providers amid Ontario\u2019s ongoing doctor shortage.<\/p>\n
Representatives from the Couchiching Ontario Health Team and the\u00a0Orillia and Lake Country Physician Recruitment team appeared before township council Wednesday morning to outline a vision for a new Severn-based health hub that would bring physicians, nurse practitioners and other healthcare professionals together under one roof.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really have centralized services in Orillia and we want to diversify and have opportunities for those team members who work in the more remote communities,\u201d said Jillian Fenik, the executive director of the Couchiching Ontario Health Team. \u201cWe recognize we want to bring care closer to home where people live instead of everyone having to travel to 119 Memorial Ave.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposed model would mirror a similar hub already established in Ramara Township, with another opening planned there in July.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fenik\u00a0said the Couchiching Ontario Health Team serves a geographically dispersed population of roughly 100,000 residents across Orillia, Severn, Ramara, Brock, Georgina and Chippewas of Rama First Nation.<\/p>\n
She told council the organization has been tasked with attaching more than 9,000 residents to primary care providers by May 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are under 10,000, but somewhere between 9,000 and 10,000 within our Couchiching region that are unattached,\u201d she said, noting that only about 2,000 residents are currently registered through Ontario\u2019s Health Care Connect system.<\/p>\n
“If you know anybody \u2014 neighbours, friends, colleagues \u2014 when you\u2019re talking to anybody who is unattached in this region, please have them register with Health Care Connect. We promise we will have opportunities within the next year to connect them with a physician, nurse practitioner or primary care team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council discussion also touched on a common concern among residents who have moved to the area while keeping physicians in the Greater Toronto Area out of fear they could lose access to care altogether.\u00a0Fenik\u00a0said provincial rules changed last year to allow patients to join Health Care Connect without first giving up their existing doctor.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople can now register and keep their existing primary care provider while they\u2019re waiting to be reattached locally,\u201d she explained. \u201cSo there is no fear of being without care.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposed Severn hub would likely involve at least two physicians operating alongside “allied” healthcare providers such as physiotherapists, dietitians and pharmacists in what officials described as a \u201chub and spoke\u201d healthcare model.<\/p>\n
Melanie Delion, physician recruiter for Orillia and Lake Country Physician Recruitment, said the province\u2019s ‘Practice Ready Ontario’ program is also helping recruit internationally trained family physicians to rural communities. A previous physician recruitment effort in Severn attracted 17 applicants, while a similar initiative in Ramara received 22 applications, Delion said.<\/p>\n
Officials acknowledged one of the biggest challenges will be securing an appropriate location. Deputy Mayor Judith Cox noted Ramara was able to use a municipal building for its health hub, while Severn currently has no comparable vacant facility.<\/p>\n
Fenik\u00a0said no specific site has been identified yet, but discussions are underway about possible partnerships and available properties.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to position it somewhere where there is some infrastructure that we can enhance and modify,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Council members expressed strong support for the concept during Wednesday\u2019s discussion.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a member of the recruitment committee, I\u2019ve worked with you people,\u201d said Coun. Mike Burkett. \u201cThere is no harder-working committee out there anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis work is fabulous work,\u201d he added. \u201cHealthcare is one of the top three items of concern nationally as well as provincially.\u201d<\/p>\n
While no formal decision was made Wednesday, township officials agreed to continue discussions with the health teams about potential locations, space requirements and partnership opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘We would like to position it somewhere where there is some infrastructure that we can enhance and modify,’…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":682645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392,250416],"class_list":["post-682644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-severn-townshipcouchiching-ontario-health-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}