Northumberland Community Partnership lands $3-million project - driven by patient /caregiver input, destined to improve seniors' healthcare transitions. First system-wide patient/provider healthcare re-design in Ontario.
After a rigorous, year-long selection process,The Change Foundation today announced the Northumberland Community Partnership as the winner of its $3-million investment in a trail-blazing project: PATH --Partners Advancing Transitions in Healthcare (PATH): a first with Ontario patients.
The Northumberland Community Partnership unites 12 health and social care organizations with patients and caregivers who will identify healthcare transition problems across Central East Ontario and work with a full range of service providers to redesign care and improve experiences. The Northumberland PATH, led by Northumberland Hills Hospital, is the first system-wide patient/caregiver codesign venture of its kind in Ontario. The two-year project aligns well with the patient-centred care emphasis in Ontario's Action Plan for Health Care and with the region's priority to build excellence in seniors' care.
"Northumberland had an acknowledged need to improve transitions for one of the country's largest concentrations of seniors with chronic health conditions. They assembled a wide cross-sector community partnership, with a strong primary care presence, and an innovative technology component; they involved seniors and caregivers from the get-go and have an enviable track record of meaningful public engagement," said The Change Foundation CEO Cathy Fooks. "In short, they showed the smarts, the heart, the team, the ideas, and the experience. We're confident that they can meet their community's objectives and help the Foundation further its wider goal of changing the healthcare debate, practice, and experience in Ontario," said Fooks.