Field Trip Gives MHSc Students Firsthand Look Into Integrated Models of Community-Based Care

One IHPME faculty member has partnered with Flemingdon Health Centre, an innovative primary care provider, to cultivate partnerships and illustrate how theory can be put into practice to provide community-based care.

By: Marielle Boutin

February 2026 marked a milestone for the MHSc Health Administration professional program as IHPME faculty member and program director Karen Born, took the classroom off-campus, leading a full-day session of a core MHSc course at the Flemingdon Health Centre.

This was the program’s first time delivering a class entirely within a community health setting. The course, Strategic Management of Quality and Organizational Behaviour in Health Services Organizations, is focused on how health care organizations develop systems and structures to embed quality into care practices, and is taught by Prof. Born and co-faculty Christina Hollingshead.

The visit at FHC focused on course learning objectives related to community engagement in health care quality and governance, as well as organizational strategies to support improved integration of community-based care.

“More opportunities for experiential learning help bring ideas to life in a rich and vibrant way […]. Our learners value having the opportunity to engage with FHC staff and see their work up close to deepen learning,” says Prof. Born.

According to Prof. Born, the motivation to establish a connection with FHC came from a need to foster deeper relationships with innovative community-based organizations who are delivering on policies to advance integrated, community-based care. FHC is a primary care provider based within the Thorncliffe Park Community Hub (TPCH). The Hub houses multiple health and social care providers for the members of the Thorncliffe Park community. This densely populated neighbourhood in East Toronto of more than 22,000 is comprised of a diverse, multi-lingual population, including many newcomers to Canada.

The visit kicked off with presentations by FHC staff, including Community Health Worker Hamna Mughal, and Diabetes Nurse Educator Morgan Lincoln, who introduced the Community Health Ambassador Program, a unique approach to building capacity for health care leadership and community engagement in the community. Ambassadors Shrouq Abdul Raheem, Abdul Rashid Athar, Eshrat Meshkoti, Sujatha Maguluri, and Serina Noori were on-site to provide insight into their experiences as part of the program.

Students then enjoyed a lunch prepared by the Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee.

The afternoon featured a tour of the Hub, where students were able to see firsthand how health and social services intersect to support integrated, community-responsive care. The day concluded with a case study exploring the consequences of fragmented care, followed by a keynote by CEO Jen Quinlan.

“Flemingdon Health Centre is a proud partner of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health,” says Quinlan. “The vision for the Thorncliffe Park Community Hub is one where community drives decision making, including research and innovation. By hosting faculty and students at the Hub we are bringing academia closer to community with the goal of inspiring leaders to work with us in shaping the future of community driven integrated care.”

The day-long session left a lasting impression on students, who pointed to the FHC’s strong culture of collaboration as a key takeaway from the visit.

For MHSc candidate Clarence Lam, a story shared by one Community Health Ambassador, who led an outdoor walking challenge that empowered residents to stay active during the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person gathering was difficult, illustrated the real-world impact of community-driven care.

According to Lam, stories like this underscored the broader understanding of how FHC’s impact stems from its structure: designed to support integration and solve complex problems in equitable and accessible ways.

“This experience has helped me better appreciate the difficulties of health system leadership,” says Lam. “Patients, families, and caregivers face challenges across the health system which are incredibly complex and multilayered. When tackling these challenges, the needs of our communities should always be a central priority […]. I look forward to applying insights gained from this experience and the MHSc program to future leadership roles where I can collaborate with other health leaders to address these challenges.”

The visit to Flemingdon Health Centre was more than an immersive learning experience. It provided a lens into how community-centred care is brought to life through partnerships and integrated design. In witnessing community-based organizations in action, students are not only exposed to new models of care but are encouraged to apply what they learn to their own workplaces in an effort to advance system-level change in Ontario and beyond.