Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Grey Bruce Integrated Health Coalition
Strategic Directions for the Grey Bruce Integrated Health Coalition
The Grey Bruce Integrated Health Coalition (GBIHC) represents an important network of health and community service providers across Grey and Bruce Counties who have been meeting regularly over the last 10 years to improve health and community services. The Coalition consists of primary care providers, community service providers, Public Health, the South West Community Care Access Centre, South West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) funded agencies, and hospitals. The group works together to solve health system problems and to move health care forward.
The core purpose of the Coalition was recently updated, "As health care leaders, we work together to improve the health and well-being of people living in Grey and Bruce Counties by improving the health care system." The Coalition also recently developed four key Strategic Directions in January 2016 to form a foundation for its future work.
The first Strategic Direction is to improve transitions in care based on patient experience. Members of the Coalition have long recognized that patients and clients moving among organizations and systems of care experience challenges. The goal of this Strategic Direction is to identify opportunities to make patients' and clients' journeys through the health care system seamless.
The second Strategic Direction of the Coalition is to develop an integrated health equity plan for Grey Bruce. The Coalition recognizes that health and community services should be equally accessible to every citizen. The Coalition will work on identifying groups throughout the area that are underserved and develop strategies to overcome this.
The third Strategic Direction is to improve chronic disease prevention and management in the region. Recognizing that there is a lot of work that needs to be done in these areas to improve the overall health of our communities, a strong focus on increasing health promotion and reducing the prevalence of chronic diseases is critical. The group will build on the work that has been accomplished in the last few years by many of our members to move new strategies forward.
The fourth Strategic Direction is to improve mental health and addictions access and capacity. The Coalition recognizes that mental health and addiction services remain a huge gap for many people across the Counties. The Coalition endeavours to create pathways for better access to services for patients and clients that will ultimately lead to the best local care and support available.
The Coalition also informs each organization on their activities, programs, and initiatives on a monthly basis which often leads to new partnerships and collaboration. Patient stories are also provided at monthly meetings to keep Coalition members grounded in the challenges that patients face. Briefings are also received on new programs, services and opportunities to ensure that all services are aligned to meet the needs of the communities served. The South West LHIN regularly attends Coalition meetings and also provides broader health system view of what is going on across the entire South West region so that the Coalition can stay abreast of emerging health care trends.
The Coalition is made up of a group of passionate people who want to improve services and patient/client experiences, and have had success in the past developing many new initiatives, providing a voice for patients and clients and enabling linkages with a wider group of service providers. The Coalition intends to work hard in the future to ensure that Grey and Bruce Counties have high quality, progressive and coordinated services for all Grey and Bruce citizens.
Media Contacts:
Paul Rosebush
prosebush@sbghc.on.ca
519-370-2400 ext 2417
Jennifer Cornell
jennifer.cornell@grey.ca
519-986-3010 ext 4223
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