Patient intervention mentioned by Minister

In her speech at the Health Achieve conference in November, Minister of Health and Long Term Care, Deb Matthews discussed the intervention done on a complex patient by partners at the North East Toronto Health Link. See excerpt below or view the transcript and video of her remarks here. 

Hon. Deb Matthews — November 6, 2013

A year ago, I stood here and I talked about creating more patient-centred linkages between health care providers. The result was community Health Links. And I have to say, I'm enormously impressed how the health care community is embracing community Health Links.

So let me tell you just one story that makes it real for me. This is about one woman from the North East Toronto Health Link. This Health Link made possible what nobody thought was possible before. They gathered a dozen providers around a table, from the community, from the hospital, with one patient, her family, her caregiver. And working together, and listening to the patient, they came up with one plan with 10 recommendations. 

There were more than a few "aha" moments as they did that work, including one that described how the patient was suffering from sheer exhaustion trying to get to a physiotherapy appointment across town, when conserving energy was crucial to her quality of life and exercise could be done at home. 

Among the recommendations: dropping one medication and cutting in half a second medication, wearing an oxygen mask 24 hours a day, thinking about a motorized wheelchair, and one more simple way to improve her quality of life - using a speaker phone to talk to their grandkids. 

The goal of the patient - and this is what's so important about Health Links, they listen to what the goal is for the patient - so the goal for this patient and her husband was to enjoy their life more. That's what they wanted. They wanted to enjoy life more. They wanted more time with their family and they wanted to get to the mosque more frequently. That was what was important to this particular person and her family.

So this plan came together in mid-October, so just a few weeks ago. And already, transportation issues are being dealt with. A new wheelchair and a new oxygen mask are in the works. And most important, the connection with the mosque is no longer a dream. It appears now to be within reach. 

The patient's goals are being met and the health care providers wrapped around the patient to make that happen.

There are many more Health Link stories that we are starting to hear, and they are all enormously gratifying. I can tell you that the way the health care sector has embraced Health Links is astounding. I hear that there was a standing-room-only crowd at yesterday's session. That you barred the doors. You wouldn't even let my staff in. But that tells me a lot about this, that it is the right way for Ontario right now.