IHSPWhether you live in Wawa, Mattawa, Attawapiskat, Sudbury, Timmins, North Bay Sault Ste. Marie, or any place in between, you have a new health care plan that will help to strengthen the Northeastern Ontario health care system over the next three years.

It’s a plan that was put together by the North East Local Health Integration Network (NE LHIN) further to the input of thousands of Northerners who offered their thoughts on what is needed to build a stronger system of care for fellow Northerners.

Launched under the name, Integrated Health Service Plan (IHSP), the plan outlines three priorities to guide the work of the NE LHIN and its system partners between now and 2019.  Priorities include:  improving access to care and wait times; enhancing the coordination of care; and strengthening the sustainability of the system so that it is here for Northerners today and tomorrow.

The plan also outlines specific areas of focus to ensure better patient care for Northerners, including: primary care, specialty care, acute care, home and community care, mental health and addictions, rehabilitation services, long-term care and palliative care.

As heard through passionate Northern voices — technology, transportation, housing, partnerships and education — will play key roles in moving forward with an unrelenting emphasis on the health care needs of Northerners.

Facts:

  • Every year, the NE LHIN invests about $1.4 billion in health care which includes: 25 hospitals, 41 long-term care homes, community mental health and addiction agencies, and home and community care.
  • Copies of the NE LHIN Integrated Health Service Plan are available online here.
  • During the month of February, the NE LHIN is leading additional engagements with Northerners on the Ministry’s discussion paper, Patients First: A Proposal to Strengthen Patient-Centred Health Care in Ontario which was released in December 2015.  The paper calls for additional steps to strengthen the Ontario health care system, including greater responsibility for LHINs, improved access to primary care, more standardized and strengthened home and community care, and a greater alignment between population and public health planning. Engagement efforts on the discussion paper can be found at www.nelhin.on.ca, including a survey where Northerners are asked to consider questions and offer their thoughts on the paper.