29 Jan Planning underway for a health hub in Mount Pleasant West
January 29, 2024
On January 25, 2024, residents and service providers of Mount Pleasant West gathered at the North Toronto Community Health Forum to explore solutions to the community’s evolving healthcare needs.
“In the Mount Pleasant West neighborhood of North Toronto, we face current challenges of high rates of residents lacking primary care support and a significant number of existing primary care practitioners retiring, all compounded by substantial population growth,” says Lori Brady, Vice President, Community Integration, Partnerships & Ambulatory Care at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and co-lead of the North Toronto Ontario Health Team.
The population of Mount Pleasant West is projected to double by 2026 (from 2017), with 30 per cent already lacking a family physician. “It’s a complex situation that we need to address head-on, collectively,” emphasizes Brady, stressing the importance of community engagement in planning for health services.
A potential solution is the development of an Integrated Health Hub – a one-stop for comprehensive health and community social services.
“Bringing these services under one roof is designed to give patients, their families and caregivers easy access to a range of supports from different service providers, like social workers, occupational therapists, and more,” says Dr. Susan Joyce, a family physician, North Toronto Primary Care Network co-lead, and member of the North Toronto Ontario Health Team. “It also provides existing primary care providers with added support from a multidisciplinary team, easing their burden and allowing their patients to get more wholesome coordinated care.”
Over the next several months, the North Toronto Ontario Health Team will continue to work on the development of the health hub, including confirmation of the care model, exploration of potential hub locations and partnership opportunities. The Ontario Health Team will continue to engage with North Toronto residents throughout the planning process.
If you would like to learn more about this initiative or get involved, please contact us.