A Renfrew County program designed to give more people access to health care is an award-winner.
The Virtual Triage and Assessment Centre has been recognized with the Bright Lights Award, handed out by the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario.
The award program recognizes how the Triage Centre works to provide integrated virtual care, by connecting patients to various health professionals, such as nurses, social workers or dieticians.
The Virtual Triage Centre was born out of the pandemic, when people needed access to COVID-19 services virtually. But provincial officials saw it as so successful, especially because it was provided health care access to those without family doctors, that it eventually received permanent funding.
Dr. Jonathan Fitzsimon, the Medical Lead for the Triage Centre, says the integrated virtual care component represents an “impactful” advancement of a new model of primary care.