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September 16, 2021

Just Take One

We are asking our mental health and addictions community to “just take one” referral of a physician or learner who has reached out for assistance.

The Physician Health Program (PHP) provides an important service to connect physicians, residents and medical learners and family members to resources they need for support. Resources include clinicians, psychiatrists, addiction medicine physicians, GP psychotherapists and a wide array of non-OHIP billed specialists such as psychologists, therapists and coaches.

The increased pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic on the general population has resulted in challenging volumes across the province for mental health practitioners to see patients and clients. It is estimated that there will be a more than 40 per cent increase in demand for mental health and addiction services for the general population due to the COVID-19 pandemic and we are seeing similar increases in our own physician population. 

The PHP has a rich database of resources; however, the increased need within the physician population requires additional support.

Volunteer to Just Take One

We are asking our mental health and addictions community to “just take one” physician, resident or learner in need of a referral, to help the PHP connect our callers with appropriate resources in their community. This will assist our clinical intake staff to expedite connections between our participants and practitioners. 

If you are interested in volunteering to “just take one” referral from the PHP, please complete the registration and a member of the PHP Resource Management Team will contact you before they send a referral.

Prefer to speak with PHP about signing up? Call 1-800-851-6606.

Register

We are so grateful to our existing network of resources who continue to accept our referrals. We appreciate you doing everything you can to support our physician community by offering your time and opening your practices to us, especially during these unprecedented times. 

On behalf of the PHP Team, we thank you!

Frequently asked questions

Psychiatrists, GP psychotherapists, addiction medicine physicians.

Once you submit your name, a PHP clinical team member will reach out to connect with you. This would be to answer any questions you might have, to determine any particular clinical interests and the best way to connect a referral to you.

A PHP clinical coordinator (CC) will contact you by email or phone and will let you know about the referral (no PHI) and will ask if you can take a referral. If you answer “yes”, the CC will then give the physician your information and encourage them to contact you directly, identifying themselves as having been referred by the PHP. If you need a referral from a family doctor, we can help with the person’s consent.

Just let us know and we will refer to another practitioner.

Compensation for accepting a PHP referral will be through standard billing codes for the specific care provided. The PHP does not cover the costs of uninsured services and payment would be the physician-patient’s responsibility. Fortunately, many physicians have some form of private insurance coverage for psychotherapy services. Learn more about OMA Insurance offers.

 

Please do not hesitate to refer the physician-patient back to the PHP. We are happy to assist with identifying and connecting to additional services that you have suggested.

You can contact the PHP directly for any questions you might have at 1-800-851-6606 or php@oma.org.

Contact us

Email php@oma.org if you would like more information. Please note any information you provide is kept confidentially within the PHP and will not be shared with any other third party.

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