2019–2020
ANNUAL REPORT ADVANCING HEALTH EQUITY IN ONTARIO
Message from the Chair This has been a year of major shifts and disruptions. The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped the way we live our lives, socialize, do business and deliver services. Its impact, however, is not felt equally. People and communities that Alliance members serve — those marginalized by poverty, isolation, racism, a lack of affordable housing, stigma and other social determinants — have seen higher rates of infection and will have to deal with the economic and social impacts of the pandemic well into the future. Once again, Alliance members were called upon to step up, fill in the gaps and meet the needs of the people they serve. From social check-in calls, home and shelter visits, community-based testing, delivery of food and other supplies to starting virtual programs and advocating for digital equity — examples of Alliance members’ leadership and innovation during the past few months are numerous and all tell a story of the power of community and highlight the importance of addressing these inequities in future pandemic planning and COVID-19 recovery. I am proud of the way our sector is responding to these new challenges both on the ground and on the provincial level. These swift actions build on a strong foundation of our decades-long commitment to advancing health equity through comprehensive primary health care. Since Ontario’s first Community Health Centre, Centretown CHC in Ottawa, opened its doors in 1969, the community health sector in our province continues to grow; today the Alliance is more than 100 members strong. Our membership has expanded beyond Community Health Centres and now includes Aboriginal Health Access Centres and Indigenous Interprofessional Family Health Teams, Community Family Health Teams and Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics. What unites these organizations serving diverse communities is our dedication to addressing the needs of those who face structural, social, economic and environmental barriers to accessing quality healthcare to reach their optimum health and wellbeing.
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ALLIANCE FOR HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES
Our commitment to health equity is reflected in the advocacy work of the Alliance both before and during COVID-19. This commitment drives Alliance members as they continue to work with partners to establish their local Ontario Health Teams. Our collective commitment to health equity is at the core of the Alliance’s research work and efforts to build a learning health system. Health equity also defines innovative projects like TeamCare and Social Prescribing that have been growing over the past couple of years. The Alliance’s main achievements of 2019-2020 are laid out in this report. These pages also include highlights of our COVID-19 response. I want to thank everyone — Alliance members, Board and staff — for your continuous efforts and dedication to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone living in Ontario. The pandemic is not over yet; many communities continue to deal with the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. As we look into the future, we know that a return to the old “normal” is not an option for Indigenous people, Black and racialized populations, people living on low incomes, isolated seniors in rural areas and many other communities Alliance members serve. Building a healthy and just recovery demands that we address the intersecting crises we are experiencing right now: the pandemic, overdose and drug poisoning crisis, afterlife of slavery and anti-Black racism, legacy of colonization and racism impacting Indigenous people, homelessness and isolation, climate change, among many others. This is challenging work but it is also an opportunity to redesign a health system that works for everyone. Because we, as a society, will not be healthy and well until every one of us is.
Liben Gebremikael Board Chair Alliance for Healthier Communities
Vision
Mission
The best possible health and wellbeing for everyone living in Ontario.
We champion transformative change to improve the health and wellbeing of people and communities facing barriers to health.
Values
Equity
Leadership
We champion an equitable, inclusive and respectful primary health care system.
We challenge the status quo with integrity and transparency and are catalysts for system innovation.
Collaboration
Knowledge
We embrace community-driven cooperation and partner to influence change.
We act and learn from a communityinformed and evidence-based approach.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020
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Fifty Years of Putting Health Equity at the Centre The first Community Health Centres in Ontario emerged in the late 1960s and early ‘70s in response to service gaps in underserved communities. Since their early days, the first CHCs in Ontario, including Centretown CHC in Ottawa and Parkdale Queen West, Regent Park and Flemingdon Health Centre in Toronto, focused on delivering primary health care to those who face barriers to good health and wellbeing. The community health movement in the province has since grown to include over 100 community-governed primary health care organizations. And while the Alliance membership now includes other care-delivery models, like Aboriginal Health Access Centres, Indigenous Interprofessional Primary Care Teams, Community Family Health Teams and Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics, the commitment to health equity continues to be at the core of our work. Over the past few years, the Alliance for Healthier Communities has emerged as one of the leading voices on health equity within the primary care landscape in Ontario. This role became particularly important during the COVID-19 crisis — both with Alliance members meeting the needs of people and communities most impacted by the pandemic and the Alliance advocating for a more equitable response at provincial tables.
Celebrating 50 years of community health in Ontario: (left to right) Simone Thibault, executive director of Centretown CHC, Gloria Daybutch, former executive director of N’Mninoeyaa AHAC, Penelope Smith, executive director of Glengarry NPLC, and Mark Ferrari, executive director of Windsor FHT.
HEALTH EQUITY CHARTER REFRESH In 2012, Alliance members adopted a Health Equity Charter. The document formalized our shared commitment to collective action to eliminate health inequities and inequitable access to health care, advance better health outcomes and address barriers that prevent certain populations from living a healthy life. Since then, endorsement of the Health Equity Charter has become one of the membership criteria for joining the Alliance. Over the past few years, both internal and external developments in the health equity landscape prompted conversations among members and at the Alliance Board around re-developing the Charter. It became clear that we need a more robust, living document that is relevant to the current situation and aligns with our evolving understanding of health equity, anti-oppression and ally relationships. 4
ALLIANCE FOR HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES
The Health Equity Charter refresh was launched in September 2019 and over the past year we have been involved in consultations with the Alliance’s four priority populations — Indigenous people, Francophones, Black and racialized communities and those who are Two Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and/or queer (2SLGBTQ+), as well as with Alliance members. The revised Charter that will be brought to a vote at the Annual General Meeting in November 2020 takes a strong stance on white supremacy, Canada’s legacy of colonization and slavery, and racism against Black and Indigenous people. It highlights barriers faced by various groups across Ontario as well as the intersecting and compounding impacts of various forms of discrimination and marginalization and calls for action and accountability.
NEW DENTAL PROGRAM FOR SENIORS WILL EXPAND ACCESS TO ORAL HEALTH CARE
ADVOCATING FOR DECRIMINALIZATION OF DRUG USE AND EXPANSION OF SAFER DRUG SUPPLY
The province launched the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program (OSDCP) in November 2019. With an investment of $90 million annually, OSDCP will provide free routine dental care for seniors living on low incomes across the province. The program will be delivered in Public Health Units (PHUs), Aboriginal Health Access Centres (AHACs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs). Alliance members advocated tirelessly for this program alongside partners and stakeholders such as the Ontario Oral Health Alliance and the Ontario Association of Public Health Dentists. The program was launched in November 2019 with a phase one rollout in spring 2020. The expansion of the project was impacted by COVID-19. In most regions, access to services was limited due to the pandemic. Despite these delays, this is an important step in making dental healthcare accessible for marginalized populations.
Alliance members continue to support interventions addressing the growing opioid crisis. Ontario has now surpassed British Columbia with the most opioid overdose deaths. Over 1,500 people died of opioid related deaths in Ontario in 2019. In response to the crisis, 20 supervised consumption and overdose prevention sites are now operating in Ontario. Twelve of these are either located in or affiliated with Alliance member organizations. Additionally, Alliance members continue to call for expansion of safer supply programs (pharmaceutical-grade alternative to the toxic street supply) as an evidencebased health intervention to address the opioid overdose crisis alongside the decriminalization of drugs and people who use drugs. Thanks to the advocacy of members and partners, the federal government is providing funding to a number of safer drug supply projects in Ontario, including in Toronto, Ottawa, London, and Kingston.
“Safe supply is a proactive public health response to an alarming crisis.� Angela Robertson, executive director of Parkdale Queen West CHC in Toronto, at the announcement of federal funding for safer supply programs.
ADVANCING BLACK HEALTH A coalition of Black Health leaders comprised of directors from Alliance members across the province convened to begin work on the development of a comprehensive Black Health Strategy. The coalition continues to advocate for the introduction of interventions in Ontario addressing the specific and unique factors impacting Black communities.
The group calls for wider recognition of racism as a key determinant of health and for action across the community health sector to address gaps in healthcare that lead to inequitable health outcome for Black populations. The coalition has continued advocating for the development of a Black health strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020
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Advocating for a health equity approach in the COVID-19 response Health equity has remained the foundation of our work during these challenging and unprecedented times. We’ve always known that systemic and structural inequities impact the health and wellbeing of many marginalized groups in Ontario. As COVID-19 became part of our lives, we knew these inequities would make the communities Alliance members serve more vulnerable to the crisis. Over the past few months, we’ve seen disproportionate impacts of the pandemic on Black and racialized communities, those living on low
incomes and working in service jobs, seasonal and temporary agricultural workers, seniors, people who use drugs, those living in high-density housing, among other groups. While Alliance members continue to work to address long-existing and new barriers and meet the needs of their clients and communities, the Alliance’s work has focused on supporting members and advocating for a health equity approach in the COVID-19 response.
Black Creek CHC staff pose in the lobby of one of the COVID-19 mobile testing sites that opened July 18, 2020 in the northwest of Toronto to help make services and supports more accessible for people facing higher risk during the pandemic due to marginalization. Staff at Guelph CHC pose with phones donated by Telus with voice and data plans to help support marginalized people to be able to connect to the supports they need and stay safe during the COVID-19 response.
SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: COMMUNITY-LED AND EQUITY-BASED TESTING: We’ve been calling for a proactive and accessible testing strategy that includes a focus on vulnerable individuals since early in the pandemic. As the province begins to open COVID-19 testing in the private sector, we are ramping up advocacy for immediate action and investment for community-led and equity-based testing.
RACE-BASED AND SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC DATA COLLECTION: In May, we marked a significant step forward in our advocacy for race-based and sociodemographic data collection, when the Chief Medical Officer of Health announced Ontario will begin collecting this data from positive COVID-19 cases on a voluntary basis. However, we have raised concerns that the province’s current data collection strategy lacks both a health equity and an anti-racism lens, and risks replicating systemic harm to marginalized populations. 6
ALLIANCE FOR HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES
DIGITAL EQUITY: The expansion of virtual programming during COVID-19 has exposed the need to advance digital equity and digital inclusion. Back in May, the Alliance was successful in working with TELUS to secure smartphones and SIM cards with pre-paid Internet plans to allow clients dealing with financial challenges to receive service by phone or via a video visit. The Alliance is now facilitating a Digital Equity Working Group to guide the development of a digital equity strategy.
We have also engaged in a range of advocacy initiatives to support migrant agricultural workers, personal support workers, enhanced discharge planning for people being released from corrections institutions, and safe school reopening particularly in communities most impacted by COVID-19.
Indigenous Primary Health Care Council reaches important milestones This has been an important year for the Indigenous Primary Health Care Council (IPHCC), a new Indigenous-governed culture-based and Indigenous-informed organization. In February 2020, the Council held its official launch and first annual general meeting. The launch marked a major milestone in the IPHCC journey that stems from the Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy and the creation of the Aboriginal Community Health Centres and Aboriginal Health Access Centres. Since February, the Council has expanded its team, and in September, Caroline LidstoneJones joined the IPHCC as its new Chief Executive Officer. As the Council sets out on the next leg of its journey toward the vision of Indigenous Health in Indigenous Hands, it will focus on promoting high quality care provision through the Model of Wholistic Health and Wellbeing, the Indigenous Cultural Safety Program, a population needs-based approach to health care planning, Indigenous-informed evaluation approaches and scaling leading practices for excellence in Indigenous health. The IPHCC works with 28 Indigenous community health care organizations, including Aboriginal Health Access Centres (AHACs), Indigenous Interprofessional Primary Care Teams (IPCTs), Indigenous Community Health Centres and Indigenous Family Health Teams. During the COVID-19 crisis, the IPHCC mobilized to understand the needs of Indigenous community health care organizations and has been supporting them by acting as a communications hub, sourcing, and distributing personal protective equipment, capacity building for testing and assessment, participation at the Provincial Tables like Bioethics and Primary Health Care, and the creation of a Northern Indigenous COVID-19 Response Working Group. The IPHCC does this work while actively mindful of the systemic change needed to address ongoing antiIndigenous racism and colonial structures.
The Alliance for Healthier Communities is proud to have been part of the IPHCC journey and to provide support along the way to both the Council and the organizations it works with, many of which are also members of the Alliance. We look forward to continuing to build ally relationships with the Council, Indigenous members and partners as we move toward the vision of Indigenous Health in Indigenous Hands.
“Today, we acknowledge a very historic moment, about a collective effort that happened many moons ago, with many people who’ve contributed significantly towards a common goal: the health of our people.” Angela Recollet, Executive Director of Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre and co-chair of the IPHCC, at the official launch of the Indigenous Primary Health Care in February 2020.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020
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Building a more integrated health care system that works for everyone Ontario’s health system took strides in moving towards an integrated care system in 2019-2020. Royal assent for the Connecting Care Act was followed by the establishment of Ontario Health and the call for organizations and providers to come together to create local integrated care networks — Ontario Health Teams. The Alliance deputed on the Bill at the Standing Committee for Social Policy and was pleased to see a commitment to equity added in the preamble, including specific reference to Francophones and Indigenous people.
ALLIANCE MEMBERS DEMONSTRATE LEADERSHIP IN ONTARIO HEALTH TEAMS With the announcement of Ontario Health Teams, Alliance members across the province began engaging with longstanding and new partners, forging new relationships and shifting from turf to trust in many communities. In 24 of the 30 groups that submitted full applications in fall 2019, Alliance members led or worked closely with their partners to ensure health equity, the Model of Health and Wellbeing (MHWB), comprehensive primary care, TeamCare and social prescribing, and collaborative and community governance were embedded into their OHTs. In December 2019, 24 OHTs were approved, 19 of which had 34 Alliance members. There were also 33 Alliance members involved in 20 of the 41 teams that were placed In Development; as well as a handful of members in teams that submitted a self-assessment form in December 2019. The Indigenous Primary Health Care Council continues to work with its members and the Ministry of Health to develop a specific Indigenous strategy for integrated care. Throughout this process, the Alliance supported members and provided opportunities to share resources on the member portal, hosted two-day meetings in both August 2019 and February 2020 to support Full Applicant and Approved OHTs, hosted two webinars for governors, created a boiler plate full application template, and developed stakeholder communication briefs for OHTs relating to various equity considerations, the Model of Health and Wellbeing, the Learning Health System and sociodemographic data collection.
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Most notably, the Alliance led a 7-part webinar series with its Community Health Ontario partners, the Tamarack Institute on Collaborative Governance through a Collective Impact lens. The series was further extended with an additional 2 webinars in partnership with the Change Foundation on Patient Co-Design.
OHTs BY THE NUMBERS
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Alliance members involved in 26 OHTs that submitted full application
34
Alliance members are part of 19 OHTs approved in December 2019
33
Alliance members involved in 20 OHTs that were placed in development
Governance in Ontario Health Teams was the main topic of discussion during the Alliance Annual Board Chairs and Liaisons Meeting in June 2019.
The Alliance received the first International Social Prescribing Award in England in July 2019.
SOCIAL PRESCRIBING RESEARCH PILOT SHOWS PROMISING RESULTS AND SPARKS INTEREST ACROSS CANADA Early 2020 saw the successful completion of the Rx: Community — Social Prescribing in Ontario research pilot. Thanks to the dedication of the 11 participating Community Health Centres in implementation, cocreation and data tracking, the initiative demonstrated a 49% decrease in sense of loneliness, 12% increase in selfreported mental health, and 19% increased engagement in social activities. Thirty-seven percent more clinical practitioners reported that social prescribing decreased the number of repeat visits, and 84% reported that the pilot project improved their clients’ health and wellbeing. Their final report and an implementation guidebook are available on the Alliance website. Social prescribing builds on the existing strengths of Alliance members and the Model of Health and Wellbeing to provide a structured pathway to integrate healthcare and supports in an intentional, equity-oriented and trackable way. Pilot sites found that having a formal process aided clarity for both staff and clients, deepened integration between interprofessional teams, and provided a common language to frame and measure the impact of non-clinical supports. Promising results and the unique equity-lens of the project have firmly established the Alliance as a leading expert of social prescribing work across Canada and internationally, and we accepted the first International Social Prescribing
Award in England in July 2019 recognizing the efforts of the Alliance and its members. With increased awareness of the need for integrated health and social care, and the growing evidence base for social prescribing as an effective solution, interest in social prescribing is continuing to grow in Ontario and across Canada. The Alliance continues to provide mentorship and resources to emerging initiatives, cultivating the growing interest, and advocating for funding to sustain this work.
ADVANCING ACCESS TO TEAM-BASED CARE TeamCare continued to grow throughout 2019-20. There are now nearly 2,300 community primary care providers whose clients can access interprofessional care through the program. So far over 26,000 clients have logged over 120,000 visits. And they value the initiative: 96% of TeamCare clients surveyed told us it “usually” or “always” improved access to care that met their needs. This year, TeamCare centres in Vaughan, Windsor, Thunder Bay, Hamilton, Ottawa, and London held public launches to boost local awareness and engagement and advocate for continued support from stakeholders. The Windsor Team Care Centre was recognized with a Bright Lights award from the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario. TeamCare is expected to keep growing through 2020-21 and beyond, and Jennifer Rayner, Alliance Director of Research and Evaluation, and her research partners at the University of Toronto and Toronto Central LHIN, will continue to measure its impact on clinicians and communities. ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020
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Building evidence and advancing health equity through research and evaluation The Alliance’s research program helps us understand population health needs and develop effective interventions. It demonstrates how our model improves health outcomes and advances equity. And it helps us understand and demonstrate the value of inter- and intrasectoral collaboration. Our research is collaborative and pragmatic, grounded in the work of our sector and the people we serve, and supported by partners at universities and research institutes across Ontario and beyond.
2019-2020 WAS A BUSY YEAR IN RESEARCH. HERE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE HIGHLIGHTS: Using linked EMR data, we worked with the Canadian Institute for Healthcare Improvement (CIHI) to produce two interactive reports that will help our members plan programs and services for people with COPD or needs related to mental health and addictions. Both used EMR data, obtained through BIRT, which was linked to administrative data from CIHI about hospitalizations and emergency visits. Findings from these studies were published in the International Journal of Medical Informatics, and CMAJ Open. With the help of graduate student interns, we explored issues of environmental justice, the inequitable impacts of the climate crisis, and community-based initiatives that can build resilience and mitigate these impacts. Findings were published by Friends of the Greenbelt, shared in a webinar and a public health conference, and used to inform a forthcoming climate change health assessment from Health Canada. We published case studies in Longwoods Healthcare Quarterly that illustrated the value of collaborative quality improvement in Toronto and multi-sector health hubs in rural Ontario, and we presented findings about how community partnerships can help build capacity for mental health and addictions care, and what makes such partnerships effective at two conferences. Alliance members are also doing their own communityand practice-based research, and we’re proud to show 10
ALLIANCE FOR HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES
it off. South Riverdale CHC partnered with researchers to publish two articles about what makes supervised consumption effective and how it can be integrated within the CHC, as well as how comprehensive health care can support marginalized people living with hepatitis C. Seaway Valley CHC published an evaluation of their oral health care pilot, and CSC de l’Estrie published results of their Low Back Pain pilot. Together with TAIBU, we shared that centre’s findings on how properly collecting and using sociodemographic data can improve cancer screening rates in marginalized populations. Measuring the effectiveness of our sector’s work is an important part of what Alliance research is about, so we continue to monitor the impacts of TeamCare and Social Prescribing.
BY THE NUMBERS: ALLIANCE RESEARCH 2019-20
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3
papers and reports published
grants received
21
conference presentations and posters
13
research partners
13
students supported
In January 2020, a “hackathon” brought together regional decision support specialists, executive leaders and clinicians to refine and operationalize the Leaning Health System framework.
BECOMING A LEARNING HEALTH SYSTEM There were significant advances in our sector’s journey towards being a Learning Health System (LHS) in 2019-20. In April 2019, a review of the Decision Support program recommended that we proceed with the shift to an LHS. A steering committee was established in the fall and developed our LHS framework. In January, regional decision support specialists, executive leaders, and clinicians came together in a “hackathon” to refine and operationalize this framework. In January, a new datasharing agreement with the Canadian Insititute for Health
Information (CIHI) took effect. This will enable our sector’s data to be included in health system research and will help us understand how our clients are utilizing other elements of the health system. The shift to an LHS is continuing in 2020-21, with changes to the structure of our performance management program and the introduction of a practice-based learning network. Watch for a launch of the LHS in late 2020!
AGILE RESEARCH: UNDERSTANDING COVID-19’S IMPACTS AND OUR SECTOR’S RESPONSES By March 2020, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic was upon us. Seemingly overnight, businesses were shut down and people were urged to stay home. In order to ensure continued access to primary health care and mitigate the risk of widespread isolation, Alliance members found ways to deliver virtual and in-person care to individuals and groups. Our research team jumped in to help understand our sector’s response, gather knowledge from the field, and share it across the sector. Within two weeks, we were canvassing members by phone to find out how they were responding to the crisis, what barriers they were facing,
and what they were learning along the way. Early learnings were released via an infographic, “Caring through the Crisis.” More systematic research, begun at the same time, was published in the Fall 2020 edition of the Longwoods Healthcare Quarterly. Our learnings from the first wave will help us respond even stronger in the second one. Alliance research team and partners have been granted funding support from SSHRC, CIHI, and other institutes to understand the barriers and enablers of virtual care, its impacts on the client experience, and best practices to sustain virtual care into the future. ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020
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Supporting members PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT/INFORMATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM The Performance Management/Information Management (PM/IM) Program continues to focus on performance management by leveraging the wealth of high quality data made available to members to support meaningful use, improving access to care, integrating and connecting services, keeping people informed and engaged in their health and wellbeing, and supporting strategic decision-making based on value and quality.
ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS TRANSITION The Electronic Medical Records (EMR) transition continues to move ahead. It is expected that the last centre will go live on PS Suite in December 2020. TELUS sub-contracted implementation to Tech Mahindra in October 2019 to increase capacity and to ensure the timelines are met.
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE REPORTING TOOLS The Business Intelligence Reporting Tools (BIRT) program enhances the value and utility of important Data and Analytical Assets. After overcoming several challenges, BIRT is now able to accept a PS Suite data feed. It is expected that all centres, including the backlog of centres that were already live on PS Suite, will be live on BIRT in January 2021.
PrescribeIT is a national e-prescribing service that provides safer and more efficient medication management by connecting community-based prescribers (such as physicians and nurse practitioners) to community retail pharmacies, enabling the digital transmission of prescriptions. The Alliance partnered with Canada Health Infoway and TELUS Health to sign up prescribers as they transition to PS Suite. As Ontario Health Teams started to ramp up, the Alliance created guidance documents, webinars and developed capacity building capability for centres to determine which technologies make sense for their OHT’s target population. The goal was to ensure that members who were invited to participate in an OHT had all the tools and resources to succeed and contribute effectively to their OHT.
CAPACITY BUILDING Capacity-building is key to facilitating continuous data quality, encouraging performance improvement and supporting robust communities of practice. Both in-person (Professional Learning Events) and virtual (webinars and pre-recorded video) tools were used to deliver capacity building events in 2019-2020.
PRIVACY AND SECURITY
FINANCE PROFESSIONALS
DATA MANAGEMENT COORDINATORS
In 2019-20 fiscal year, the focus on building awareness in Privacy and Security continued. 3,450 people received training in Privacy and 1,705 in Security.
A Finance Professional Learning Event was held in September 2019 with an attendance of 60 participants.
A Professional Learning Event was held in November 2019 with an attendance of 80 participants.
The Privacy and Security Professional Learning Event held in September 2019 had 80 attendees.
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E-HEALTH ALIGNMENT AND CONNECTIVITY
ALLIANCE FOR HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES
A Community of Practice for Data Management Coordinators was established.
MEMBER SUPPORT DURING COVID-19 The COVID-19 pandemic made us refocus our work, with member support remaining one of the key priorities. As the crisis continues to unfold, the Alliance has been acting as a provincial liaison to ensure members have the necessary information and supports to respond in a timely and comprehensive manner. The Alliance has been part of key COVID tables, including the Ministry Emergency Operations Centre calls, the Collaboration Table and the Communication Table. We have been following regular updates from all levels of government and public health and sharing relevant information with members through a wide range of channels, including bilingual situation reports; COVID-19 Update & Alliance Membership Touch Base Webinars, initially delivered twice a week; COVID-19 Group on the member portal; the Alliance’s weekly bulletin, and special issues of Board to Board reports. Personal Protective Equipment: The high global demand for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) led to supply shortages in Ontario. Many members faced higher costs and other supply challenges. In response, Alliance and IPHCC partnered to provide PPE procurement support, including inventory monitoring, coordination of emergency PPE sharing between member organizations, obtaining
The Alliance worked with the Ontario Sewer and Watermain Construction Association to secure a 3,400 mask donation to Vibrant Healthcare Alliance. Vibrant Registered Nurse Linda Ta is pictured here with the donated PPE.
private donations, escalating urgent needs to regional and provincial tables, and managing bulk purchases of masks, gowns, disinfectant wipes, and other supplies. The Alliance also joined other community-based organizations in advocating for a provincial PPE strategy, resulting in the Pandemic PPE Transitional Support Program (PPTSP).
CAPITAL PROJECTS Over the past year, we were delighted to celebrate the completion of capital projects with a number of Alliance members, including Centretown CHC, Gateway CHC, CSC Chigamik CHC and CMHA Windsor-Essex County Branch. The Alliance continues to provide support to members throughout their infrastructure expansion and improvement projects.
ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020
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Financial Report 2019-2020 Alliance for Healthier Communities has a solid financial picture, with total revenues of $7.5 million. Total revenue of $3 million contributes to our core operations: advocacy, policy, communications, and resource and policy support for our members. This revenue was earned from membership fees, meeting registrations, learning events, our annual conference, and funding for special projects, such as the AHAC Decision Support Specialist initiative, the Social Prescribing project and Community Primary Health Care Research project. Additional revenue of $4.5 million contributes to our Performance Management and Information Management
Program. This revenue was earned from IMS participation fees and from Privacy and Security Training conducted with member organizations. $2.1 million of IMS fees are a direct flow through to vendors. As of March 31, 2020, the Alliance’s fund balances totaled $376,170. • General Fund: $30,460 was transferred to our general reserve. The balance in the General Fund is $226,151. • IMS Fund: $30,000 was transferred to our IMS reserve. The balance in the IMS Fund is $150,019.
$7.5 million Total Revenue
$3 million Core Operations
4.5 million Performance Management and Information Management
$376,170 Fund Balances
Audited statements are available upon request.
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ALLIANCE FOR HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES
Board of Directors 2019-2020 CLAUDIA DEN BOER, Chair CEO of Canadian Mental Health Association - Windsor-Essex County Branch
FRANÇOIS SÉGUIN, Director Board Chair of l’Équipe de santé familiale communautaire de l’Est d’Ottawa
LIBEN GEBREMIKAEL, Vice-Chair Executive Director of TAIBU Community Health Centre
MARTHA LOWRIE, Director Board Member of the Four Villages Community Health Centre
CONSTANCE MCKNIGHT, Treasurer Executive Director of De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre
CATE MELITO, Director Executive Director of Grand Bend Area Community Health Centre
CLINTON COWAN, Secretary Board Member of South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre
CLIFF LEDWOS, Director Associate Executive Director and Director of Primary Health Care at Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services
MARC BISSON, Director Executive Diretor of Centre de santé communautaire de l’Estrie MARIETTE SUTHERLAND, Director Committee member of Noojmowin Teg Health Centre
We want to thank outgoing governors – Constance McKnight, Taposhi Batabyal, Martha Lowrie and Clinton Cowan – for their dedicated service on the Alliance Board, commitment to our mission, vision and values, and outstanding contributions to advancing healthy equity through comprehensive primary health care.
DALE MCMURCHY, Director Board member of Kawartha North FHT TAPOSHI BATABYAL, Director Board member of Woolwich Community Health Centre ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020
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