Those with a chronic disease live with their condition every day – and even though they rely on the support of their healthcare team, they can feel isolated and alone. And when their condition pushes outside norms, they can feel confused and frightened. Their healthcare team can also be hampered by a lack of information – on the current medical condition of their chronic disease patient and on their overall medical status – because they see the patient infrequently and because the patient’s medical record is often not available for sharing amongst team members.

The doctors of Wise Elephant FHT have adopted a group of small villages in Samthar Valley, West Bengal, India and partnered with a local NGO called Awake and Shine in India.  Their current project is to convert a dirt footpath into a stone footpath to make it usable all year round for the schoolchildren.  As the villages are in the foothills of the Himalayas, the dirt footpaths to this school become next to impassable due to the heavy monsoon rains. As part of their fundraising effort, Drs.

Harrow, ON – This weekend, 148 students from the Windsor and London campuses of the Schulich School of Medicine have gathered in Windsor/Essex County to forge closer relationships between the two sites. Eighty-four of the students have opted for a tour of Essex County. This group is here with you this afternoon. They have been split into smaller groups who have examined Leamington Hospital and the Leamington Family Health Team. They have been to the southernmost point of Canada and now they are at the southernmost Family Health Team here in Harrow.

Matt Galloway, host of CBC Radio's Metro Morning interviewed Dr. Jane Philpott, Lead Physician, Health for All Family Health Team to learn how family health teams work and what makes them more effective in providing care. Click here to listen to the interview.

People in the Burlington area now have better access to frontline health care with the expansion of the Caroline Family Health Team. This was today's announcement from Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Deb Matthews. “The newly expanded Caroline Family Health Team will provide increased access to care for more than 21,000 people within the next five months.

Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care visited Omemee to announce the opening of the new City of Kawartha Lakes Family Health Team. “The City of Kawartha Lakes Family Health Team will be able to provide increased access to care for over 38,000 people within the next five months.

Family Health Teams from Wave 4 are beginning to move into the "fully operational" stage of their development.  Health Minister Deb Matthews visited Wise Elephant FHT in Brampton to celebrate its opening with lead physician Dr. Sanjeev Goel and staff.  One of Dr. Goel's long-time patients enthused about how the practice has grown into a "one-stop shop" for meeting his health care needs. “The Wise Elephant Downtown Brampton Family Health Team will be able to provide increased access to care for over 9,000 people within the next five months.

Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Deb Matthews congratulated lead physician Dr. Joseph Lee and the staff of Kitchener's Centre for Family Medicine Family Health Team for having enrolled more patients than originally planned, including over 5000 who were previously unattached.  She said, “It’s a shining example of what family health teams are all about.”  The Health Minister used the occasion to announce that Ontario has helped one million more people find a family doctor since 2003.

New Vision Family Health Team is a busy primary care practice in Kitchener, Ontario. On average, outcomes for patients in the practice who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were not meeting clinical best practice guidelines. The team realized it needed to redesign its chronic disease management system to improve care for these patients.

The Athens District Family Health Team (FHT), located within the South East LHIN, serves 3,500 rostered and 300 unrostered patients. In November 2008, the team was experiencing a wait time of 27 days, as measured by the time to the third next available appointment. As a result, the registered nurse had to do telephone triage to fit patients into an already doublebooked schedule or offer telephone advice.