THE Scarborough Hospital (TSH) launched its new 2015-2019 Strategic Plan at its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held yesterday evening.

“This has been a tremendous year of accomplishments for our team, including our new Strategic Plan, Forward Together: Building a Healthier Scarborough,” says Robert Biron, President and CEO, TSH.

“There is a collaborative spirit that is alive and well at our hospital. This is the same spirit with which we approached the development of this plan. Together with our stakeholders, we took a deep look at the trends, priorities, and opportunities before us. From this comprehensive planning process, we created a bold new roadmap for our hospital.”

TSH’s new Strategic Plan highlights four new strategic directions:

• Patients as Partners;
• Innovation and Learning;
• Integrated Care Networks; and,
• Quality and Sustainability.

“The strategic priorities outlined in this plan will continue to deepen our relationships with our many stakeholder groups, as well as shape even more quality, responsive, innovative, and integrated care and services,” says Janet Dalicandro, TSH Board Chair.

TSH continued to deliver solid fiscal management, ending the 2014-2015 year on budget with an operating surplus of over $840,000. Operating efficiencies were realized through numerous strategies, including TSH’s adoption and spread of LEAN quality improvement methods across the hospital. Concurrently, the hospital maintained or enhanced patient safety, quality of care, and a healthy workplace for its team. Several examples were highlighted at the AGM:

• A 50 per cent lower hospital readmission rate for patients of the Virtual Ward and Assess and Restore programs. These programs provide care for elderly patients following hospital discharge in partnership with Carefirst Seniors and Community Services Association.
• Reducing the rate of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers by more than half, which has resulted in improved care and safety, as well as a cost savings of more than $350,000.
• Reducing patient wait times and improving access in the Endoscopy unit by increasing the percentage of case changeovers conducted in less than five minutes. This improvement also resulted in $250,000 in savings.
• Continuing to build on a comprehensive action plan for the Maternal Newborn and Child Care program by introducing water births at both campuses, and expanding the midwifery and Child Development programs. As well, the hospital designated the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the General campus a Level IIC in order to be able to provide a higher level of intensive care for sick newborns, and keep more families and their babies closer to home.

TSH also continued its longstanding track record of innovation and health system leadership this past year. Highlights include:

• Partnering with the University of Toronto on the new Centre for Integrative Medicine, which will study ways to safely and effectively integrate complementary therapies with conventional medical care.
• Expanding the hospital’s interprofessional team through the introduction of seven Physician Assistants who joined three clinical programs. This was the single largest cohort hiring of Physician Assistants in Ontario.
• Being designated as a Peritoneal Dialysis Centre of Practice by the Ontario Renal Network.
• Achieving a Best Practice Spotlight Organization candidacy from the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario – the first hospital in the Central East Local Health Integration Network (Central East LHIN) to achieve this status.
• Receiving the 2015 National Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award from the Canadian College of Health Leaders.

Also at the AGM, TSH welcomed Nancy Evans and Robert Lawrie as two new Directors to the Board. Nancy and Robert fill vacancies created when Bonni Ellis and Brad Sinclair left the Board earlier this year.

Nancy Evans is Vice President of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement at the Electrical Safety Authority. Her governance experience includes serving as Chair of the Board of the Frontier College Foundation, which supports Canada’s leading literacy organization.

Robert Lawrie is Chairman of the Hawk Capital Group, an independent investment bank operating in Canada and throughout Europe. He trained as a lawyer, practicing in Canada and the U.S. Robert has had a parallel career in philanthropy in cultural charities, education, and health care; and he is very experienced in corporate board governance.  He served as a Director of The National Ballet of Canada for more than a decade, and was previously a Director of The Leacock Foundation in Toronto.

“Bonni and Brad have both demonstrated an exceptional commitment to their roles and to our hospital, and we thank them for their service,” says Janet.

“We feel fortunate to be able to add such incredibly qualified individuals as Nancy and Robert to our highly skilled Board complement.  Our Board is committed to good governance by ensuring a broad range of professional backgrounds and competencies are represented.”

More information on the TSH Board, including brief biographies on all of the Directors, can be found on the TSH website.