Debbie Sevenpifer, President and Chief Executive Officer

Debbie Sevenpifer, President and Chief Executive Officer

I often say that the only constant about healthcare is change.

For this, and many other reasons, I welcome the introduction of this column and the opportunity it presents to update you, on a regular and meaningful basis, about our hospital priorities and what is happening at the Niagara Health System.

Across Ontario, hospitals are making changes to the way patient care is delivered to improve quality of care and better use our scarce resources, be they doctors and nurses, equipment or money.

Here at the Niagara Health System, there is an unprecedented amount of change taking place as we respond to the evolving needs of Niagara residents and keep pace with advances in medical procedures and technology.

Certainly, the Hospital Improvement Plan (HIP) has caused its share of controversy, and I understand the emotion and concern created by the HIP. Seldom is change easy. Modernizing and improving healthcare within available resources is also never easy and is complicated further in Niagara by the fact that we are one hospital with seven sites.

The reality is that, for many critical reasons, we have come to a point where we have to make substantial changes in order to sustain the provision of care in Niagara and take advantage of the excellent opportunities we have to advance and improve care.

The HIP has provided our medical leaders with great opportunities to improve the quality of the care we provide, and I believe that people will come to appreciate that the changes in the HIP improve quality of care for all Niagara residents.

Chief among these opportunities to advance and improve care is the creation of Centres of Excellence. These centres will allow us to pool our resources to more effectively manage the chronic – national — shortage of doctors and nurses and will offer our health-care providers the work environment, training and support they need and deserve. Centres of Excellence will also allow us to afford on an ongoing basis the facilities, equipment and technology needed to support the advances taking place in healthcare.

Please see our HIP coverage on pages 4 and 5 for the latest on the implementation of the HIP. The 2009 initiatives include the consolidation of surgical services and the transformation of the Emergency Departments in Fort Erie and Port Colborne into Urgent Care Centres. Other priorities for this year include the first phase of bed closures as new services are introduced in the community to more appropriately care for our patients who are occupying acute care beds in our hospital while awaiting alternate levels of care in the community.

Also important is the long-range planning that continues by our medical and administrative leaders to better integrate programs and services through the HIP and create of Centres of Excellence into 2013.

Monitoring performance and measuring quality are key to the HIP implementation, and any and all changes will be tracked on an ongoing basis using a set of specific performance indicators. For example, surgical performance indicators will centre around improving wait times for patients, standardizing operating procedures and reducing readmission rates to hospital.

Over the course of the year, you can read more about the HIP in Niagara Health Now as well as the other 2009 corporate priorities for the NHS which have been identified by our medical and administrative leaders.

Among these priorities is the new health-care complex, for which ground was broken on April 28, signalling the beginning of construction. Some believed this day would never come, but it did and it is very real. In 2013, the doors of this new facility will officially open, providing patients in St. Catharines, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Thorold with a much-needed replacement acutecare facility and bringing new regional health-care services closer to home to benefit all Niagara residents.

Please see page 1 of Niagara Health Now for the latest on construction milestones as we move forward with this crucial project. Frequent updates and open houses will occur during the construction process, and a new project website was recently launched in collaboration with Plenary Health Niagara at www.nhs.plenaryprojects.com or on the NHS website at www.niagarahealth.on.ca/construction/new-health-care-complex/.

Patient safety is a key priority for our hospital, and I am looking forward to the ongoing articles about the important initiatives that are underway throughout our hospital.

Please see the story on page 7 about our commitment to quality care, accountability and transparency.

In recognition of Nurses Week last week, I encourage everyone, at their next opportunity, to take a minute to thank the nurses of the NHS. They are the heart of our hospital system, and cannot be thanked enough for their hard work, commitment and dedication in these challenging times in healthcare.

In closing, as I mentioned earlier, I welcome the opportunity to communicate with you on a regular basis. As healthcare continues to evolve in Niagara, I will do my best to inform you of the changes that are taking place. «