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ANOOP SAYAL & ASSOCIATES Family and Cosmetic Dentistry We are currently accepting donations for our 22nd Annual Food Drive Please drop off your donation by Dec 17th at our Thank you for your suppor t over t he year s. Dr. A . Saya l in support of the Georgetown Bread Basket ON NOW AT THE BRICK! SAVING YOU MORE For more details go instore or online @thebrick.com. Ontario has announced a new initiative aimed at bringing local health-care providers together to make it easier for patients to move from one health-re- lated service to another. Oakville North-Bur- lington MPP Effie Trianta- filopoulos and Oakville MPP Stephen Crawford visited Acclaim Health's Oakville Adult Day Pro- gram at Sheridan College on Friday, Dec. 6 to unveil the Connected Care Halton Ontario Health Team. The Halton team is one of the first 24 teams in the province to implement a new health care model that aims to better connect pa- tients and providers in their communities. Through an Ontario Health Team, Triantafilo- poulos said, patients will experience easier transi- tions from one provider to another, including, for ex- ample, between hospitals and home-care providers, with one patient record and one care plan. "Today is a significant day for the future of health care right here in Halton and a significant day for the future of health care across Ontario," said Triantafilopoulos. "We are fortunate to have some of the finest health-care professionals dedicated to delivering the highest quality care right here in Halton and across Ontario, but we all know the health-care system is facing capacity pressures and patients and families are getting lost in the health-care system. They are falling through the cracks, waiting too long to get the care they need. That's why our govern- ment made a commitment to Ontarians to build a sus- tainable and connected public health-care system focused on the needs of pa- tients and truly ending hallway health care." Triantafilopoulos said the Ontario Health Teams will be responsible for de- livering care, understand- ing patients' health-care history, directly connect- ing them to the different types of care they need, and providing 24-7 help in navigating the health-care system. She said the first wave of Ontario Health Teams, in- cluding the Halton team, is being approved after an ex- tensive readiness assess- ment process, which in- volved significant collabo- ration and research from partners across the health- care sector. The Halton team is scheduled to begin imple- menting its proposed pro- grams and services in 2020 and will communicate with patients and families about the changes they can expect. The team will initially focus on palliative care, mental health and addic- tions, and home and com- munity care. Over time, the team will provide care for everyone within the Connected Care Halton Ontario Health Team's population, which is estimated to be about 400,000 people. "Better integrated care is only possible when pa- tients and health care sys- tem partners design solu- tions together," said Ange- la Brewer, Acclaim Health CEO and Halton Ontario Health Team partner. "Acclaim Health is ex- cited to be moving ahead with our partners to use our knowledge of the home and community care sec- tor to help bring the Con- nected Care Halton Onta- rio Health Team vision to life." Halton Region chief ad- ministrative officer Jane MacCaskill said the launch of the Halton team is a crit- ical step forward to im- proving the patient experi- ence and health outcomes in Halton's growing com- munity. The region's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Ha- midah Meghani said Hal- ton Healthcare, the Missis- sauga/Halton LHIN, Hal- ton Region, Acclaim Health and Oakville-based physician Dr. Kristianna Martiniuk submitted an application to the province to form the Ontario Health Team in Halton. She said these partners are confident the establish- ment of an Ontario Health Team in this community will be a significant advan- cement toward connecting care and achieving the gov- ernment's quadruple aim for health, which includes: • Improving the patient and caregiver experience; • Improving the health of populations; • Reducing the per capi- ta cost of health care; • Improving the work life of providers. NEWS INITIATIVE AIMS TO UNITE HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com Oakville North-Burlington MPP Effie Triantafilopoulous speaks at Acclaim Health unveiling the new Connected Care Halton Ontario Health Team. David Lea/Torstar