Health and Safety Report: 2025-03
Submitted by Georgia Blondon, Chair
Seniors Health Innovations Hub article in Ottawa Citizen article
Following is an excerpt from an article written by Ottawa Citizen reporter Elizabeth Payne interviewing Carolyn Inch, one of the founding members of SHIH.
Nurse practitioners already deliver primary care across the province in community health centres, family health teams and a small number of nurse-practitioner-led clinics.
nursing backgrounds and advanced training align well with helping seniors prevent and manage age-related chronic diseases, co-morbidities and disabilities and their holistic approach supports aging in place,” says a document from Seniors Health Innovations Hub.
Inch said the group is trying to get the attention of Philpott’s team to consider their proposed plan as a way to expedite access to care for older Ontario residents in need.
“We have written to them. We want them to be aware of the ease of implementation (of this proposal) and the timeframe we could do that in,” said Inch. She said the model aligns with Philpott’s vision for neighbourhood “health homes” as part of primary care coverage.
She said other communities could use the model and build “ready-made team-based medicine” for seniors by partnering with local institutions involved in providing healthcare along with nurse practitioners.
Inch, who is a retired veterinarian, said the idea was sparked by a committed group of older adults living in the Old Ottawa South area, many of whom had either lost their family physician or knew others who had. They turned to nurse practitioners and others for help developing the plan.
She said often older adults lose their physicians when they retire and it can be more difficult for find a clinic that will take them on as patients because their health-care needs can be perceived as high or complex.
The SHIH proposal would start with a single nurse practitioner clinic for seniors staffed by two NPs, a registered nurse and a registered practical nurse as well as a medical receptionist. Administrative support, allied health services and physician assistance would be provided by Perley Health and the Centretown Community Health Centre.
The group estimates 1,500 seniors could be on the clinic’s roster in the first year and could expand from there, in Ottawa and other communities based on the model.
City of Ottawa Older Adult Plan – Findings from consultations
Visit Engage Ottawa – City of Ottawa Older Adult Plan (French) to read findings from consultations to inform the City’s Older Adult Plan (some links also included below). If you have questions about the new Older Adult Plan, email OlderAdults@ottawa.ca.
