Espanola Family Health Team meets provincial health mandate

On Friday, July 10, the Espanola Family Health Team sent out a press release to announce they had successfully met the Province of Ontario mandate to connect those individuals who had registered with Health Care Connect, prior to January 2025, with a primary care provider or care team. “This milestone supports the province’s goal of [...]

Article content On Friday, July 10, the Espanola Family Health Team sent out a press release to announce they had successfully met the Province of Ontario mandate to connect those individuals who had registered with Health Care Connect, prior to January 2025, with a primary care provider or care team. “This milestone supports the province’s goal of connecting every person in Ontario to timely, comprehensive, and coordinated primary care by 2029.” Recommended Videos The Espanola Family Health Team stated, “Ensuring residents have access to a primary care provider if one of the most important steps in supporting healthier communities.

We are incredibly proud of our team and grateful to our healthcare partners whose collaboration made it possible to connect 151 individuals to ongoing primary care services. This milestone reflects our commitment to improving healthcare access for the people we serve.” Members of the Primary Care Access Clinic, who were instrumental in assisting the health team in their efforts, were Chelsey Sisson, RN and clinical lead; Jennifer Clement, nurse practitioner; and Kelly Joyce, medical receptionist.

“Together, this core team coordinated patient outreach, assessments, intake processes, and attachments, helping connect residents to the primary care services they need.” The initiative also required nursing staff who supported patient intakes and attachment efforts throughout the endeavour. Those nurses include: Jamie Bucknell, RN; Sandra Camillo, RN; Jennifer Burden, RN; Kaylee Arbour, RPN; Shannon Gagne, RPN; Nicole Erben, RPN; and Erin Neufeld, NP.

The Family Health Team also mentioned several doctors whose commitment to accepting and attaching patients to the primary care initiative helped make it a success – Dr. McMillan, Dr. Perlin and Dr. Bignucolo. They acknowledge that this achievement, “reflects the collaborative work of clinicians, nurses, physicians and the administrative staff who came together with a shared goal of improving access to care for residents across the Espanola area.”