Staying the Path: Continuation of Strategic Priorities for 2024/2025
Thames Valley Family Health Team (TVFHT), with the support of the Board of Directors, decided to extend the current strategic plan by two years. There was more work to do on their organizational goals. Also, with Executive Director Mike McMahon on secondment, the plan was to wait until the leadership team was back to full strength to begin the important work of creating a new strategic plan.
Even with these changes, TVFHT stayed focused and made significant progress on the following goals.
Strategic Direction 1: Foster Well-being for Employees and Partnering Clinics
TVFHT is building a healthy workplace by supporting staff well-being and creating strong systems for both virtual and in-person care.
Highlights from 2024/2025:
- Designed an improved pay grid for staff through a thoughtful and intentional approach.
- Advocated for more funding and support when meeting with regional government leaders.
- Worked to reduce the extra administrative for clinical staff by implementing OCEAN, expanding online booking, and hiring additional support roles.
- Offered the “Self-Compassion for Health Care Communities” program just for health care providers.
- Held in-person staff social events, and improved communication through site visits and more connection opportunities.
- Created a wellness workplan and scheduled regular committee meetings.
What’s Next:
- Improve vacation coverage for all staff.
- Improve staff communication and connection with more in-person meetings, and a better staff portal.
- Continued to reduce paperwork that slows down clinical work.
- Keep working on feedback from staff surveys and improving employee engagement and workplace culture.
Strategic Direction 2: Advance Collaborative and Integrated Care
TVFHT is working with patients, caregivers, and partners to improve care and make services easier to access.
Highlights from 2024/2025:
- Started pilot projects where primary care nurse practitioners lead patient care.
- Opened the Elgin Community Health Hub and helped over 5,000 patients in the first 6 months. Began supporting care to those experiencing homelessness in London with the Health & Homelessness IPCT.
- Worked with partners to improve mental health care. Mental Health & Addictions Navigator in Elgin County began work June 2024, seeing patients for both team-based and non-team-based primary care providers.
- Launched new group programs to address population health needs: Building Foundations, skills and tools for people living with trauma; and, Intuitive Eating, a non-diet approach to changing personal eating habits.
- Finalized agreement for a single Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system to be used across all TVFHT sites.
- Created care pathways for chronic conditions and trauma support.
- Worked with local partners to plan for Lower Limb Preservation; COPD; CHF; mental health trauma pathways.
- Refined an internal care pathway for patients looking for smoking cessation support.
- Planned a core services model at the 460 Springbank clinic, in consultation with physician partners at Old South Family Health Organization. This aligns with the Nurse Practitioner (NP) as Most Responsible Provider model and includes task shifting and NP core service retention.
- Continued work to design core services to be offered by TVFHT to patients of affiliated physicians.
What’s Next:
- Expand NP-led care models across more sites.
- Help all team members work to their full scope.
- Involve patients and caregivers in designing services.
- Finalize partnerships with hospitals and academic groups.
- Launch rebranding project to create a stronger, unified identity.
- Implement the single EMR across all TVFHT sites in phases.
Strategic Direction 3: Health Equity and Cultural Safety
TVFHT is making care more inclusive by learning from and serving diverse communities, especially those who face barriers to care.
Highlights from 2024/2025:
- Health Equity and Cultural Safety Committee created a simplified Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA) to be used in assessing new programs and services.
- Partnered with Noojimo Health to better support patients who identify as being Indigenous.
- Opened a community health hub in Elgin and learned from other organizations.
- Leadership team began training in population health.
What’s Next:
- Offer population health training to all staff.
- Use culturally safe practices in care and communication.
- Build more team-based care hubs in different regions.
- Increase promotion of the partnership with Noojimo Health to support more people with culturally sensitive care.
Strategic Direction 4: Empower Primary Care Leadership
TVFHT is helping primary care providers take on leadership roles and work together to improve the healthcare system.
Highlights from 2024/2025:
- Offered the “Self-Compassion for Health Care Communities” program just for health care providers.
- Took part in planning for Primary Care Networks (PCNs).
- Defined leadership roles for NPs and updated their agreements.
- Created a plan for a physician advisory group to help guide the work.
What’s Next:
- Launch the physician advisory group.
- Build strong regional alliances in primary care.
- Help more providers take on leadership roles.
Looking ahead to 2025/2026
TVFHT is ready for what’s next. With the Ontario Government making a major investment in primary care, they are stepping up as a leader.
In the coming year, TVFHT will focus on completing ongoing goals, as they prepare to create a new strategic plan. The team will continue to provide exceptional care to patients and offer more services to keep communities healthy.