Westminster-Branson Primary Care Clinic update

Several months ago, North York General Hospital (NYGH) transitioned services from the Urgent Care Centre (UCC) at the Branson Ambulatory Care Centre to our General site at 4001 Leslie Street. More about the transition of UCC services, as well as other Branson services, can be found here.

A primary concern in coming to this decision was to ensure the residents of the local community have the health care services they need. Even though our data tells us that 99% of the patients who visited the UCC identified they had a family physician, we understand that many did not have same-day access to primary care, or access to multidisciplinary teams. As such, the Central LHIN has begun consultation with residents, health system partners, and service providers to collectively strategize on a longer term community health care model.

As an interim measure, North York General also established the Westminster-Branson Primary Care Clinic to provide additional resources while a comprehensive primary care model was being established. The clinic's main objective was to allow those in the Westminster-Branson area who are not able to gain access to their own family physician in a timely manner to gain access to a primary care physician closer to home

Despite repeated promotion of the clinic's services – in both printed material such as posters and pamphlets, as well as through our online communication channels – there has been minimal community uptake. Since its inception on June 1, 2017, the Westminster-Branson Primary Care Clinic has seen an average of six patients a day, most of whom (65%) are from outside our catchment area. Due to these low patient volumes, we are ceasing operations at the clinic as of July 28, 2017. 

To ensure a seamless transition for patients, staff and volunteers at three locations of the Branson site will be available to provide information and brochures about health care options in the community in multiple languages. In addition, a care team member will be stationed near/adjacent to the registration desk to assist patients in accessing primary care in the area.  This navigation service will begin on Monday, July 31, 2017 and continue until September 1. 

We would like to once again highlight that there are many health care options in the community to serve primary health care needs. To learn more, please view map here. You can also learn more about health care in your community by visiting the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care's Health Care Optionsor by visiting the Central Local Health Integration Network's Centralhealthline.ca or by calling Telehealth Ontario at 1.866.797.0000.

It's important to stress that in addition to primary care services, we are working with the Central LHIN to explore the potential for future innovative partnerships under a health hub model in the community, where primary care can be co-located with valuable community-based services like home and community care, mental health programs and diabetes education.

Again, if you have questions about the clinic or the Branson Ambulatory Care Centre transition, please send an email to question@nygh.on.ca.

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