On June 27, 2024 the Town of Georgina entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalize a collaborative relationship with Southlake Regional Health Centre (Southlake) and Northern York South Simcoe Ontario Health Team (NYSS OHT) to advance the delivery a distributed model of health care that would provide improved access, better patient experiences and help to address health equity issues within our community.
Central to the MOU is the pursuit of a new health-care facility in Georgina to provide a suite of services based on the most pressing needs of residents and the broader community.
The MOU establishes a commitment to develop health facilities and expand health and wellness programs/services within Georgina and focuses on five areas for collaboration:
- Health facilities and resources
- To increase access to care through the development of a new facility, resources and expanded use of existing spaces
- New and expanded health and wellness programs
- To improve health equity by increasing access to inclusive, evidence-informed programs and services
- Advocacy and community/partner/provider engagement
- To collaboratively pursue and advocate for support and investments from funders and decision-makers at all levels of government
- Data sharing
- To inform shared pursuits that leverage each organization’s information and insights, while upholding all applicable privacy requirements
- Research and innovation
- To explore joint partnerships with academic institutions to bolster research that advances knowledge and standards for leading edge care
A dedicated project lead at Southlake will oversee the MOU’s administration to help implement and advance shared goals through an investment of up to $210,000 by Georgina.
The future work to be done under the scope of the MOU will continue to advance the Town’s action under the 2023-2027 Corporate Strategic Plan, “Advocate for enhanced health and wellness services, partnerships and investment attraction for Georgina”, through improving access to health and wellness programs/services, enhancing collaboration and strengthening capacity across the local health-care system.