Sherbourne Health honoured for community response to COVID-19

Sherbourne Health, alongside Inner City Family Health Team and St. Michael’s Hospital Academic Family Health Team, have been recognized by the Association of Family Health Teams Ontario (AFHTO) with a Bright Lights Award in the category of Community Response to COVID-19. Hazelle Palmer, President and CEO of Sherbourne Health says, “We are honoured to receive an award that recognizes Sherbourne Health as leaders and innovators in primary care across the province.”

Working together as Family Health Teams, Inner City FHT, St. Michael’s Hospital FHT and Sherbourne Health continue to collaborate to provide care and support to vulnerable populations living in Downtown East Toronto. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have come together to provide mobile outreach for COVID-19 testing, organized the first isolation site for shelter residents in Canada, and coordinated a family recovery site and wraparound supports post-COVID-19 testing. We were also able to continue tackling the opioid crisis in innovative ways, creating a Substance Use Hub in partnership with Inner City Health Associates. Our vaccine work was also cited, including that this group has administered approximately 90,000 vaccine doses and created a Vaccine Playbook for Shelters, sharing this information with Toronto Public Health and Ontario Health, and across the province.

In sharing this recognition, the AFHTO stated:

Inner City FHT St. Michaels Hospital Academic FHT and Sherbourne Health FHT all members of the Downtown Toronto OHT, stepped beyond their organizational mandates to ensure that the most vulnerable received care in locations that included encampments, shelters, boarding houses and Toronto Community Housing buildings. Thanks to their concern and caring, these patients had access to primary care, COVID-19 assessments, navigation to recovery sites and community resources, safe space for isolating as well as COVID-19 vaccines.

Thank you to our partners at the Inner City Family Health Team and St. Michaels Academic Family Health Teams for their incredible work, and to AFHTO for this recognition.