Congratulations to The Ottawa Hospital Academic FHT for receiving the 2013 Family Practice of the Year Award from the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP)! 2013 Family Practice of the Year – The Ottawa Hospital Academic FHT The Ottawa Hospital Academic Family Health Team (TOHAFHT) is composed of two sister sites (Civic and Riverside) dedicated to quality clinical service, strong health sciences teaching and education leadership, and robust primary care research.

The 2^nd Annual AFHTO Bright Lights Awards celebrate the leadership and significant progress being made to improve the value delivered by AFHTO members to 3 million patients across Ontario. Winners were announced at the October 22 Awards Dinner at the AFHTO 2013 Conference, attended by over 250 people AFHTO members, senior representatives from government, Health Quality Ontario, and some of the associations who, along with AFHTO, work together as the Ontario Primary Care Council.

Minister’s Medal Honours Excellence in Health Quality and Safety Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Deb Matthews, is inviting individuals and organizations to showcase their high-quality patient-centered care programs. This annual medal will recognize excellence in collaboration, sustainability, measurable outcomes and value. Completed applications must be submitted to your LHIN office by 5:00 p.m. on September 16. Successful recipients will be recognized at HQO’s Health Quality Transformation 2013 event on November 21, 2013.

Couchiching FHT is featured for growing primary care in their community. They have developed innovative diabetes and congestive heart failure clinics and geriatric programs to help keep patients healthy and at home longer. They have recently opened a brand new facility to provide care from one location for their Orillia community. Click here to read the full article in the Orillia Packet.

Congratulations to the Wise Elephant and West Carleton Family Health Teams, first and third-place winners in Canada Health Infoway’s ImagineNation Outcomes Challenge, competing in the Patient Access to Health Information category against teams across the country.

Peninsula Family Health Team’s innovative work to connect its rural population to specialist support is featured in this week’s Healthy Debate. Go to http://healthydebate.ca/opinions/telemedicine.

Innovation Award Winner – Sherbourne Health Centre, Infirmary Program The Sherbourne Health Centre, which encompasses the Sherbourne Family Health Team, was honoured for developing an innovative program to provide chemo and radiation therapies to individuals experiencing homelessness, or those with no real ‘home’. These patients face significant barriers to accessing mainstream treatment. Even those in shelters or rooming houses lack a sufficiently safe or hygienic environment, and cannot appropriately dispose of the toxic chemotherapeutic waste.

Today's edition of the Healthydebate Weekly Digest features the work done by Dorval Medical FHT to deliver high quality of care, high capacity and lower than average costs through measurement and reporting.  Click here to read the story.

Demonstrating and Celebrating the Value of Family Health Teams – this is the focal point of the AFHTO 2012 Conference, and the reason for launching the AFHTO Bright Lights Awards program.  These awards recognize the leadership, outstanding work and significant progress being made to improve the value delivered by family health teams.

A collaboration between North York Family Health Team and North York General Hospital with funding from Cancer Care Ontario, North York Family Health Team and North York General Hospital have created a new survivorship program for patients with colorectal cancer.