In December 2019, the Hills of Headwaters Collaborative Ontario Health Team (Collaborative) was chosen as one of the Province’s first 24 Ontario Health Teams.
There are 38 partners within the Collaborative, as well as over 70 primary care physicians and specialists, caring for just over 112,000 people across Dufferin County-Caledon.
Some of the Collaborative’s priorities during the first year include:
- Bringing together our mental health and addictions services
- Creating a collaborative palliative care team
- Creating neighborhood home care teams supporting the community needs, as partners at all times and in all locations along the care journey
- Decreasing the health equity gap across our communities
- Ensuring everyone in our community can access the care they need when they need it
- Connecting family doctors and specialized services with hospital resources to improve care
- Improving care for seniors and children
A critical component of this work is the involvement of citizens in our communities. Formed five months ago, the Community Wellness Council is made up of people all with an interest to create a health and social care system in Dufferin Caledon that is focused on what matters to everyone. Its members all have an equal voice at the table. Many members are caregivers, have been caregivers in the past or have had the experience of being a patient in the health or social services sector.
“If we as a community come together to build something new, we need the courage and creativity to do so. That will come if we have the vulnerability to tell our stories for the benefit of others,” said Eileen Dahl, patient family advisor, Headwaters Health Care Centre and founding member of the Community Wellness Council who passed away in December 2019. Her passion and vision lives on within the Community Wellness Council.
The Community Wellness Council members agree that it is expected that everyone (patients, caregivers, care providers, doctors, community members) will courageously work together to create a health and social care system that improves health and wellness by:
- Sharing ideas openly
- Listening to understand different points of view
- Being respectful of other’s ideas and the situation as they see it
- Focusing on solving the problem when we disagree
- Participating in ways to check our improvement
The Community Wellness Council has a shared purpose, a term of reference and a workplan to continue making progress within the broader Hills of Headwaters Collaborative Ontario Health Team.
The group meets quarterly. If you are interested in getting involved, please connect with us at info@hillsofheadwaterscollaborative.ca.
