Carefirst Family Health Team: Building a Neighbourhood Health Home, Together
Minister of Health Visits Carefirst
On August 4, 2026, Carefirst Family Health Team (FHT) was honoured to welcome the Honourable Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, to our Scarborough site. The Minister saw first-hand how our team has connected 15,162 people to a family doctor or nurse practitioner across Markham, Richmond Hill and Scarborough, growing enrolment by nearly 25% in one year. She also met the people behind those numbers: a caring, multilingual interprofessional health providers team, many of whom are newcomers to Canada themselves and know our communities well.
Our Vision: A Neighbourhood Health Home
In our Spring issue, we shared how our Hub-and-Spoke model is expanding access to care. Our next step is bringing Ontario’s Neighbourhood Health Home vision to life with our partners, our patients and their care partners. We imagine a community where everyone, at every age, has one trusted place to access primary health care. Primary care, specialist care and community supports come together, and there is no wrong door to care. Whether someone walks into a clinic, an adult day program or a community hub, one familiar team welcomes them with one shared care plan, and families and caregivers are true partners. We are building this with our Ontario Health Team partners, Ontario Health atHome, the Regional Municipality of York, United Way Greater Toronto and a growing community of partners, one neighbourhood at a time.
Sharing Our Integrated Care Journey at the On Lok PACE Symposium
On September 24, Carefirst co-hosted and presented at the well-attended From On Lok to Ontario Symposium at Toronto Metropolitan University. Other speakers included Matthew Anderson, President and CEO of Ontario Health; Grace Li, CEO of On Lok PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) in San Francisco; and Professor Paul Williams, Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. Carefirst first visited On Lok in 2012, and since then we have brought 15 of PACE’s 18 core components into our care. Guided by Carefirst’s mission and vision, we continue to strengthen our commitment to integrating care across sectors and building a more resilient primary health care system for all.
Living Well with Chronic Conditions
Following our May 7 press conference, our Preventive Care and Chronic Disease Management Program (CDMP) has continued to grow. Physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, dietitians, physiotherapists, social workers and pharmacists offer group education, counselling and community health screenings. Programs cover diabetes, high blood pressure, heart health, hepatitis B, mental wellness and more. They run in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, in person and online, ensuring accessible chronic disease prevention and management supports.
For more information, call 416-502-3790 or email cdmp@carefirstontario.ca.
Learn more: https://carefirstontario.ca/medical/chronic-disease-management-program/