Rehabilitation Services related to ICHSC Hip & Knee Procedures 

July 15, 2025

Background: What Are ICHSCs? 

Integrated Community Health Service Centres (ICHSCs) are a new model of community-based, publicly funded surgical and diagnostic care, initiated by the Ontario government in early 2023. These centres aim to increase access to timely, high-quality surgical procedures such as cataract surgeries, MRI/CT imaging, and orthopedic surgeries—including hip and knee replacements—by shifting select procedures out of hospitals and into independent community-based facilities. The goal is to reduce surgical backlogs, improve wait times, and enhance patient outcomes through integrated and coordinated care. 

Why It Matters to Physiotherapists and Communities 

This shift has important implications for physiotherapists and communities across Ontario as community based surgical centres open their doors to patients. As ICHSCs become operational, there will be a need for community-based physiotherapists to provide post operative rehabilitative care following surgery. This post-operative service model is different from the hospital-based model.   

For communities, particularly those facing long surgical wait times or lacking local hospital resources, ICHSCs offer an alternative opportunity for more rapid care, but it is critical to ensure that post-operative physiotherapy is appropriately integrated. Ensuring that physiotherapy is included and appropriately funded as a core component of care in these centres is vital for maintaining health system quality and equity across Ontario. 

OPA’s Work and Current Information 

For some time, the Ontario Physiotherapy Association (OPA) has been seeking clarity from the Ministry of Health regarding how post-hip and knee replacement rehabilitation will be funded in the forthcoming Integrated Community Health Service Centres (ICHSCs). ICHSCs will be responsible for providing post-surgical rehabilitation care to patients who clinically require it, and this care must be funded from within the bundled facility fee paid by the Ministry ($6,530 per hip replacement and $5,797 per knee replacement). 

As part of the application process, prospective licensees are required to demonstrate partnerships with rehabilitation providers. This may include out-of-hospital rehabilitation, in-house physiotherapy services, and home-based rehabilitation care. However, patients receiving care through an ICHSC are not eligible for one or more Episodes of Care under the Community Physiotherapy Clinic Program. 

There is currently no provision or requirement for applicants to offer funded pre-operative physiotherapy. However, licensees are required to “organize appropriate pre-operative planning and assessment.” 

Physiotherapists can expect to be approached in the coming days by applicants seeking to form agreements for the delivery of post-operative rehabilitation and potentially pre-operative planning and assessment for patients, contingent on the applicants’ success in securing a licence. 

OPA will continue to monitor developments and advocate for the role of physiotherapy in this evolving healthcare landscape.