Creating a Connected Healthcare Neighbourhood Across Many Diverse Communities
At SRCHC, as our annual report celebrates, we work with multiple partners and our community to create programs and primary care services that focus on providing low-barrier access to clients who are newcomers, living with chronic conditions, or facing substance use and mental health challenges. To improve access for clients, we provide care at multiple locations in our community, including at local shelters and in people's homes. As the province provides additional funding to increase access to team-based primary care services, we’ll continue to expand this vital work with our community partners.
By working as a team, we can collectively improve health outcomes for people who face barriers to care. About 30% of our clients are living with 10 or more medical conditions, yet despite this clinical complexity, we’re keeping people out of the emergency department. We’re proud to share that only 4% of emergency hospital visits are classified as best managed in the community (compared to 11% for CHCs across the province). We manage to keep our emergency department rates low with the support of a triage system managed by our clinic nurses. We offer same-day and drop-in appointments six days a week, deliver evening and weekend clinics, and provide on-call services for patients who have urgent health problems after hours.
Once someone becomes a registered primary care CHC client, they can access a full range of interprofessional care, including services like social work, chiropody, and physiotherapy – all at no cost. These supports, which often come with a fee in other parts of the healthcare system, are fully integrated into our team-based approach to community care.
Looking Forward
As we look ahead to the coming year, we’re energized by the opportunity to help shape the future of connected and community-based healthcare in Toronto. We’re excited to work with our CHC partners, Ontario Health Teams, Primary Care networks, community members, our partners and funders, as well as other stakeholders to bring this shared vision to life.
One important first step to expand our reach is the launch of our new mobile health clinic that will deliver primary healthcare, health prevention, screening, and vaccines directly to people in high-needs communities. We‘ll also continue building pathways to care for our important health promotion work, community-based and chronic disease programming, and strengthening support for mental health and substance use services — all while working alongside our community partners to remove barriers so people can access the compassionate, equitable, team-based care they need and deserve.
Year over year, our purpose remains rooted in what has always guided us: our community. The vision and the stories we’ve shared throughout this report are about more than delivering primary healthcare services — they’re about building trust, deepening connections, and creating a more inclusive health system guided by equity, compassion, and community.
The road ahead is full of possibilities and we hope you’ll join us on next year’s journey too.