Patient and Family Advisors
The Western York Region Ontario Health Team (OHT) is a team of health and community care providers and organizations serving the communities of King, Vaughan and Richmond Hill. Our partners include hospital, primary care, home and community care providers, and people with living and lived experience. Our goal is to deliver health care services that are co-ordinated and centered around the needs of patients and families.
To enable this, Patient and Family Advisors (PFAs) are also active partners of the Western York Region OHT. PFAs are patients, family members or caregivers with health care experiences in Western York Region who bring their living and lived experiences to shape our system planning and improvement efforts.
We are currently looking for new PFAs to join our Patient and Family Advisory Council.
Learn more below or complete this form to apply.
What is a Patient and Family Advisory Council?
The Western York Region OHT Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) is a group of patients, family members and caregivers who work together with health care leaders to improve the quality, safety and experience of care in Western York Region. PFAC members share their living and lived experiences to help improve health care policies, services and programs so they better meet the needs of people living in our region.
PFAC members may contribute by:
- Helping design programs to ensure services are easy to access, inclusive and focus on patients
- Co-designing policies that impact patients and families
- Identifying barriers to care and helping design solutions
- Providing input on the Western York Region OHT’s goals and priorities
- Supporting efforts to engage patients, families and caregivers in health care planning, in line with direction from Ontario Health
Who can be a PFA?
As members of the Western York Region OHT Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC), PFAs bring essential living and lived experiences to system planning and improvement efforts across the health and social care system.
PFAs have personal experience with the health care system – either as a patient, family member or caregiver – through interactions with a health care provider in Western York Region (King, Vaughan and Richmond Hill).
We strongly encourage participation from individuals from diverse and equity‐seeking groups including Francophones, BIPOC, 2SLGBTQQIA+ and people living with disabilities.
Additional qualities of PFAs include:
- Desire to make a positive difference for patients, families and caregivers
- Be 18 years of age or older
- Have access to computer, tablet or smart phone for emailing, videoconferencing, and document viewing/editing/sharing
- Are comfortable speaking in a group and asking questions
- Can share their experiences respectfully and constructively
- Work well with others and support open, solution-focused discussions
- Can maintain confidentiality of sensitive information
- Have time to participate in meetings and activities (mainly weekdays during office hours)
Learn more about the role in our PFA role description.
Why are PFAs important for our health system, and what do they do?
PFAs play a vital role in shaping a more responsive, compassionate and effective health care system by sharing their real-life experiences. They help us:
- Plan better services: PFAs share valuable perspectives that help health care providers and planners understand what truly matters to patients and families. This helps design care with real-world needs in mind.
- Keep care focused on people: By sharing their experiences, PFAs help ensure that care puts patients and families first. This leads to more personalized and meaningful experiences.
- Make care safer: PFAs help identify gaps in care and opportunities for improvement, leading to safer, more effective health care delivery.
- Build trust and communication: PFAs help build stronger relationships between patients, families and providers, building trust and improving communication across the system.
- Support fair and inclusive care: PFAs bring diverse voices to the table, helping to make care more equitable and accessible to everyone.
Learn more about the role in our PFA role description.
How can I get involved as a PFA?
Review our PFA role description to learn about the qualifications and commitments.
When you’re ready to join, complete this application form and a member of our team will be in touch.
For questions, please contact Maria Grant, System Planner, at maria.grant@mackenziehealth.ca
