October 2023

Scarborough Ontario Health Team (SOHT) is a network of over 30 health and social services organizations working together to provide care for residents and families in Scarborough. To coordinate our work, SOHT has six (6) main committees who drive the work of our Ontario Health Team (OHT) forward, generally focused around our main priorities: Driving System Integration, Developing Operational Excellence, and Keeping #ScarboroughStrong. The membership of all committees includes team members from partner organizations, primary care physicians, client and family advisors and SOHT team members.

SOHT is committed to consistent, transparent communication with our partners and community. As part of these efforts, here are some of the key priorities our 6 SOHT main committees are working on.

Recovery and Sustainability Committee

This committee’s aim is to develop pathways and initiatives that will more effectively coordinate the delivery of healthcare amongst health and community care providers in Scarborough to improve the health and wellbeing of Scarborough residents.

Current priorities for this committee include:

·         Developing integrated care pathways for patients with Diabetes to help improve access to and integration of care between providers based on best practices

·         Implementing preventative cancer screening events for eligible patients to receive mammograms, pap tests and colorectal screening in line with Ontario Health guidance

·         Developing and implementing initiatives to proactively address expected seasonal increases in flu, COVID and RSV in priority target locations across Scarborough

Quality and Performance Committee

The Quality and Performance Committee (Q&P) committee is focused on implementing quality improvement initiatives across SOHT to help address capacity challenges across the sector to help ensure Scarborough residents can receive the care they need in the most appropriate place for them. This work specifically includes:

·         Helping patients who are considered Alternative Level of Care (ALC), which means they continue to need around-the-clock care but no longer require an intense level of acute, hospital-level care, to safely transition out of hospital with the care they need in the community to stay well

·         Provide patients experiencing mental health and addictions challenges with services in the community so they do not need to go the Emergency Department to receive care

·         Increase cancer screening for Scarborough residents by providing specialized training to providers designed to help ensure patients are comfortable accessing screening  

Digital Health Committee

SOHT’s Digital Health committee supports the use of digital health tools and assets across our OHT to improve care in Scarborough. This work is focused on using digital health tools and assets to:

·         Improve communication amongst healthcare providers across a patient’s circle of care. Specifically, SOHT is currently involved in a pilot project to text a secure messaging solution to help facilitate communication between providers.

·         Improve access to primary care through digital initiatives onboarding primary care providers onto Online Appointment Booking platforms

·         Improve seniors’ access to health and social services in Scarborough. This work currently involves building awareness of Ontario’s eServices Program to expand the usage of these services, as well as supporting the use of the Toronto Health and Social Services Directory, an initiative with 7 other Toronto-area OHTs that was launched in Spring 2023. 

SOHT’s Governance committee is responsible for making sure SOHT has the appropriate governance structures in place to meet the changing needs and priorities of SOHT while aligning with direction provided by Ontario Health. This includes:

·         Evaluating the effectiveness of our governance structures in advancing integrated care in Scarborough.

·          Evaluating the organization of different healthcare sectors within our governance structures to effectively promote collaboration across sectors.

SOHT’s Finance committee is responsible for ensuring that funding provided to SOHT is effectively managed. This includes:

·         Making sure funding is available to support priority initiatives as outlined by Ontario’s Ministry of Health, Ontario Health and our partners.

·         Making sure funding is available to support primary care engagement and leading and for effective engagement with Scarborough community members.

The Communications Committee for SOHT is responsible for managing and supporting communications and engagement across our partnership and with the Scarborough community. This work includes:

·         Maintaining and sharing information with partners and community members to support the work of SOHT across our communication channels including our website, social media channels and newsletters.

·         Developing and launching a community newsletter in 2023 to provide needed health and community care information to Scarborough residents.

·         In coordination with the SOHT Community Engagement working group, support engagement with Scarborough residents, including priority populations, at community events and by providing engagement training to SOHT partners.