Minister of health applauds local inititatives

By Mark Ribble

The Ontario Minister of Health and Deputy Prime Minister — Sylvia Jones — made a stop in Essex County on Monday, September 26 to attend the unveiling of the new medical mobile support truck for the region and speak to local officials about the local Mental Health and Addictions Team (MHART)

Dozens of dignitaries, healthcare workers and officials were on hand for the visit, with the Minister taking a tour of the new mobile unit, followed by speeches inside council chambers at the Essex Civic Centre.

The mobile clinic is equipped with state-ofthe art equipment which will allow the Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team (WEOHT) to bring medical services directly into vulnerable neighbourhoods across Windsor-Essex.

The new truck will follow set routes across the region within a rotating schedule.

Leamington is listed as one of the vulnerable neighbourhoods due to the large number of offshore workers who currently aren’t rostered with a primary medical professional.

Essex-Windsor EMS Chief Bruce Krauter led the meeting inside, which announced a partnership between 45 agencies across the region — all of which will have access to the mobile unit as needed.

“The MHART team and the mobile medical unit will enable us to provide care and treatment to Essex County residents when and where they need it, helping to alleviate demands in the community and at hospital emergency departments by providing preventative care and diverting patients to the most appropriate point of contact and level of care,”

said Krauter. “Now, more than ever, we must do everything we can to reach people before they are in crisis.”

Minister Jones was impressed by the initiatives and praised local healthcare officials for their innovation.

“The mobile health care services being provided by Essex-Windsor EMS Paramedics in partnership with Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, along with a wide range of other health care providers, is proof of the amazing work that can happen when we all work together,” she said. “This innovative model of community health care puts the patient first by bringing the services to them and reduces systemic pressures by diverting emergency calls before they happen.”

Erie Shores HealthCare CEO Kristin Kennedy, who is the co-chair of the WEOHT, was happy to be part of the unveiling.

“This is a good day for Windsor-Essex as we officially transition Mobile

Medical Support to the Windsor-Essex OHT, a partnership of 45 local healthcare providers,” she said. “The mobile medical unit will enhance access to care in high-priority communities and marginalized populations, alleviating pressures across the healthcare continuum in Windsor and Essex County.”

The Mental Health Team is an important tool in helping those who find themselves in precarious situations and cannot get the help they need through conventional avenues. The team helps ensure residents are receiving the right care at the right time by the right provider in alignment with Ontario’s Roadmap to Wellness building on a health-centered approach to strengthen mental health crisis prevention and response.

Both initiatives are being credited with helping to reduce the load on local emergency rooms as they roll out across the region.

Minister Jones with Essex-Windsor EMS Chief Bruce Krauter.