What is a Family Health Team (FHT)?

• A Family Health Team includes physicians, nurse practitioners and a variety of registered health professionals and administrative staff. They work together as a team to provide patients with the health care they require when they need it, as close to home as possible. This reduces the need for patients to travel long distances to access specialized services such as nutritional counselling, mental health counselling, smoking cessation services and chronic disease programming.

What communities does Central Hastings Family Health Team serve?

• CHFHT’s communities include the Municipality of Centre Hastings, the Township of Madoc, the Municipality of Marmora & Lake and the Township of Tudor & Cashel. 

How many clinic sites does Central Hastings Family Health Team have?

• CHFHT’s main clinic sites are in Madoc and Marmora. These clinics are only open to active patients of CHFHT.
• CHFHT also operates a weekly public outreach clinic in the community of Gilmour.

Who funds the Central Hastings Family Health Team?

• The Ministry of Health pays for the salaries of CHFHT’s nurse practitioners, registered nurses, registered practical nurses, dietitian, social workers and administrative staff. It also pays for part of the supplies, equipment and other operating costs of the clinics (such as rent and utilities).
• Due to the way that CHFHT is funded, its primary care clinic services, its after-hours clinics and most of its programming are reserved for patients of CHFHT.The Physicians operate their own privately funded medical practices. The family physicians pay the salaries of their own staff. They also pay for part of the supplies, equipment and other operating costs of the clinics.

What does the Central Hastings Family Health Team do?

Central Hastings Family Health Team provides its patients with access to primary care and a variety of programs that it designs and maintains. Full program details can be accessed from a menu on this page: https://chfht.ca/programs-services/. In summary, CHFHT’s main programs are:

• Lung Health – patients who are at risk for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) due to a history of smoking are screened with breathing tests (called spirometry). Patients who are diagnosed with COPD are taught how to manage their symptoms effectively.
• Smoking Cessation (the STOP Program) – eligible patients are provided with smoking cessation counselling and smoking cessation aids.
• Hypertension – patients are taught to make lifestyle changes to help them control high blood pressure.
• Diabetes – this program includes referrals for patients with complex diabetes who require periodic, more intensive care. Patients also receive nutritional counselling and are taught self-management skills.
• Chronic Pain –strategies are developed in collaboration with patients to seek better ways to manage their chronic pain. For patients taking opioid medications, opioid reduction strategies may be included. The program also includes non-pharmacological approaches to chronic pain management, such as meditation.
• Nutritional Counselling – the team’s Registered Dietitian provides group classes for healthy eating and weight loss. The Dietitian offers a full range of services including counselling for patients who have chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and IBS. She also provides counselling for higher-risk patients such as children, patients with eating disorders and pregnant patients.
• Social Work – the team’s two Registered Social Workers promote patients’ mental health and wellbeing by helping patients identify the source of their stress or difficulty, develop coping skills and find effective solutions to their problems.
• Foot Care – this program is for high risk foot care needs, including complications of diabetes. Due to the high demand for these services and the limited supply of appointments available, this program is only open to patients with financial need and a lack of private insurance coverage.
• Ontario Telemedicine Network – If a local patient has been referred by their Physician or specialist this links local patients with out-of-town specialists (such as a Dermatologist or Psychiatrist), via television, right from our clinic sites.

Program availability and details are subject to change.

This information was correct as of Nov. 10, 2020