IPCT Community of Practice
As Ontario builds new Interprofessional Primary Care Teams (IPCTs), teams across the province are navigating similar questions: How do we build effective team-based care? How do we organize our work? How do we connect more people to primary care?
The IPCT Community of Practice (CoP) was developed by the Department of Family and Community Medicine in collaboration with Ontario Health and the Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) to support teams implementing attachment-first care. Initially focused on newly funded teams in 2025/26, the CoP provides a space for executive directors, managers, clinician leaders, and frontline staff to share challenges, explore practical solutions, and learn from teams doing innovative work. Sessions combine evidence summaries, examples from teams across Ontario and other jurisdictions, and facilitated discussions focused on practical approaches that teams can adapt to their own context.
To register for an upcoming Community of Practice session, please email the DFCM OHSP Research Officer at dfcm.ohspofficer@utoronto.ca with your name and organization.
The resources below provide ongoing access to the knowledge shared through the Community of Practice. Expand each session to access recordings, presentation slides, and supplementary resources that can help support implementation, facilitate team discussions, and share learning across organizations.
CoP Sessions
Introduction & Reporting Requirements (April 8, 2026)
This introductory session launched the IPCT Community of Practice by outlining its goals and structure, introducing Co-Chairs Dr. Brian McKenna and Dr. Jennifer Rayner, and inviting participants to help shape future sessions. Teams shared priority topics, discussed how they wanted to collaborate, and began building a community focused on learning, knowledge sharing, and supporting the implementation of Interprofessional Primary Care Teams.
Resources:
Please note: this introductory session was not recorded and there are no accompanying slides or resources available for this session.
Onboarding New Patients (May 6, 2026)
This session explored how Interprofessional Primary Care Teams can build effective patient onboarding processes. Participants discussed approaches to identifying and engaging unattached patients, clarifying team roles, and implementing structured workflows that support consistent, efficient onboarding while reducing administrative burden.
Panelists:
Dr. Noah Ivers, Women's College Hospital Research and Innovation Institute
Dr. Jonathan Fitzsimon, Renfrew County Virtual Triage and Assessment Centre
Stephanie Hemmerick, Seaway Valley Community Health Centre
Justine Humphries & Edward Aust, Mid-West Toronto Ontario Health Team
Lindsay Wingham-Smith, Mississauga Health, Trillium Health Partners
Resources:
Health Human Resources (June 10, 2026)
This session explored health human resource (HHR) challenges and opportunities for new and expanded Interprofessional Primary Care Teams. Participants discussed recruitment and retention strategies, workforce innovation, and leadership practices that support sustainable teams, while learning from organizations expanding access to primary care in rural and underserved communities.
Panelists:
Will Lakusta, Health and Workforce Integration, Ontario Health
Dr. Ralph Ganter, Grand Bend Area Community Health Centre
Kayla Michaud, Mattawa Family Health Team
Resources:
Partnering with Health Care Connect (July 8, 2026)
This session explored Health Care Connect (HCC), Ontario’s patient attachment program. Participants learned about approaches to patient attachment and efforts to support connections between unattached patients and primary care.
Panelist:
Allison Costello, Ontario Ministry of Health
Resources:
IPCT Showcase with Dr. Jane Philpott (September 23, 2026)
This session provided an opportunity for IPCTs to share approaches and lessons learned with colleagues and senior executives from Ontario Health. IPCTs had the opportunity to quick-fire present their unique approaches and lessons learned on working toward their attachment goals, followed by comments from leadership representatives.
Panelists:
- Ashley Miller, Executive Director, Maple Family Health Team
- Neil Shah, Vice President, Primary Care Transformation & Academic Partnerships, Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities (SCHC)
- Guillermo Rodriguez MSW, RSW, Director of Primary Care, Woolwich Community Health Centre (WCHC)
- Lauren Elford RN, BScN, MscN, Manager of Clinical Services, Woolwich Community Health Centre (WCHC)
- Jovana Bailey RN, BN, MPH, Executive Director, Family Practice and Environmental Health Clinic, Women's College Hospital Family Health Team
- Tara Groves-Taylor, CEO, Community Healthcaring Kitchener-Waterloo
- Wajma Attayi, MPH, MHSc-HA, CHE, Director, Primary Care, Community Healthcaring Kitchener-Waterloo
Resources:
Connecting with Unaffiliated Physicians (October 28, 2026)
Approximately 70% of Ontario's roughly 15,000 family physicians currently have no access to team-based resources, meaning that the large majority of Ontarians who do have a family doctor are connected to physicians practicing without allied health support. These community-based family physicians, working in FHG practices, FHO groups without FHTs, and other non-IPCT models, collectively care for millions of Ontarians and represent the most substantial untapped source of additional attachment capacity in the province. This session focused on what IPCT and their PCN/OHT partners can offer community family physicians and how to engage them in ways that are likely to work.
Panelists:
- Dr. Marilyn Crabtree, MD CCFP FCFP, Clinical Lead, Great River OHT/ESO du Grand Fleuve
- Cameron Dunkin, Executive Director, Vibrant Community Health
Resources: