Ontario’s nurses call on government and stakeholders to collectively strengthen our publicly-funded, not-for-profit health system and make it more responsive to the public’s needs, easier to navigate and more efficient and cost-effective. To make this happen, the health system must be anchored within primary care to advance primary health care for all through: health promotion, disease prevention, chronic disease management/prevention and mental health care. Equally important are addressing social/environment determinants of health and changes that enable nurses and all other regulated health professionals to work to their full scope of practice, a commitment to reducing structural duplication, and advancing system integration and alignment.
This white paper presents a model that advances a robust foundation for community care and improves integration between all health sectors through a single health system planner and funder – the LHINs as maturing system structure – and anchoring the health system in primary care. Specifically, the paper provides an overview of the ECCO model to inform and evolve strategies to ensure timely access to Ontario’s health system, improve client experience and outcomes, and deliver comprehensive services in a cost-effective and seamless manner.