Message from Chair, CEO and President | Another Extraordinary Year | Financial Overview | Download Annual Report | Rapport Annuel
You can click on each photo or headline to read more about our story over the past year.
Message from Chair, CEO and President
This has been a year unlike any other.
We have experienced many successes in enhancing healthcare in Niagara, and the arrival of COVID-19 tested our system like never before.
Our team has pulled together admirably to continue delivering extraordinary care in the face of this unprecedented pandemic. Staff and physicians have worked tirelessly in uncertain circumstances to slow the spread of infection, care for those afflicted with the virus, and support each other.
The incredible response from the NH team, our partners and our community shows we’re all in this together, making it a fitting theme for our annual report.
A tremendous amount of work took place before the pandemic to build partnerships and position us for success. These partnerships have been key to our ability to respond to the pandemic and will be key in our work to create a stronger, more integrated healthcare system.
There has been a lot of change and a lot of progress over the last year.
We were accredited with exemplary standing for the second consecutive time and achieved national recognition for a record number of leading practices among hospitals in Canada.
As a community-based academic and research centre, we continually push ourselves to raise the bar in teaching and learning, research and innovation.
We made significant advances with technology. Now, with COVID, our innovation in this area is accelerating and changing the way we provide care. Access to virtual care will be a significant focus moving forward, as will secure access to personal health information on mobile devices.
Keeping an eye towards the future, work continues to deliver the South Niagara Hospital. Feedback from the provincial Ministry of Health is positive and we will look to lessons learned from the pandemic in planning the new hospital. Engagement of our community, staff and physicians remains a priority in helping to shape this planning.
As we navigate these challenging times, our caring culture underpins our work and supports our teams and the community. This year, our organization passed an important milestone of 40,000 acts of kindness, many of which have taken place during the pandemic when they were needed the most.
Another Extraordinary Year
We welcomed Lynn Guerriero in February. Her unique set of skills, passion and vision for high-quality healthcare in Niagara made her the unanimous selection of the search committee. Lynn’s strong leadership has been evident through our pandemic response.
ENHANCED CARE FOR PALLIATIVE PATIENTS
This new program enhances care and access to services for palliative patients and their families. The Palliative Care Consultation Service provides a holistic approach to care improving their quality of life and emotional well-being for patients and families.
Niagara’s generosity shines bright throughout the year with its immense support of Niagara Health Foundation campaigns and events. It has been inspiring to see how the community has stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic to support our healthcare team, with financial contributions for urgently needed equipment and donations of personal protective equipment.
We are welcoming Bunny Alexander as the new Chair of our Board of Directors. We thank outgoing Board Chair John Bragagnolo for his strong leadership, vision and guidance.
Our leaders, staff and physicians have been working tirelessly to care for patients during the pandemic. We’re grateful for all the work they are doing and appreciate that they’re stepping up again to help us bring back services for patients and families who have been waiting for care.
“I’m thankful for the Niagara Health team. From the person who cleaned my room, to the personal support workers, to the nurses and doctors, the care was amazing. Everybody treated me with dignity. I thank God every day that I’m here and that I was able to survive this. I feel like I was a miracle.”
NH Navigator is revolutionizing the way patients connect to healthcare information and their care providers. Future releases will provide users with easy access to their health information and connect patients and families with their team of providers while maintaining the highest security and privacy standards. To date, there have been more than 3,200 downloads.
EXPANDING HOME, COMMUNITY CARE
Patients no longer requiring hospital care benefit from two new provincially funded programs that support patients to transition home sooner by providing them with the support they need in the hospital and at home. We work closely with our partners St. Elizabeth Health Care on home care and Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre on rehab services.
Members of the Niagara Health Engagement Network (NHEN) partnered on more than 80 initiatives, including our new Patient and Family Declaration of Values and our refreshed Integrated Quality and Safety Framework. Our more than 55 patient partners help us make improvements in the care experience in a number of important ways.
We are grateful for our many strong partnerships which have enabled us to make significant strides in our work together to deliver more integrated and connected care, and enhance the patient/client, family and caregiver experience. This work continues as part of our planning for the Niagara Ontario Health Team – Équipe Santé Ontario Niagara (NOHT-ESON).
We are seeing continued growth in medical research at NH. Research and clinical trials are happening in a wide range of programs, and our teams are participating in research related to COVID-19. This year, our Research Lead, Dr. Jennifer Tsang, led the launch of a new national network to support the growth of research in Intensive Care Units in community hospitals in Canada.
We’re celebrating ten years of working with the Niagara Regional Campus of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. Hundreds of NH physicians provided specialty training to 1,300 resident physicians. We work with over 90 academic partners to provide a range of learning opportunities.
Being selected as one of Hamilton-Niagara’s Top Employers for the second straight year is a testament to our team’s loyalty and dedication. We continue to have success in retaining and recruiting the best and brightest to work at Niagara. Our first job fair last fall attracted 900 job seekers.
Financial Overview
Niagara Health publishes our audited financial statements every year as part of our financial accountability and responsibility to the community. Complete financial statements for 2019/2020 are posted here.
Our financial health continues to improve thanks to the work of our teams. Our total operating budget for the year was approximately $570 million and we ended the year with a surplus of $5,118,500. The surplus will be reinvested for future capital expenditures.
Revenue sources for 2019/2020
Approximately 87% in base and one-time funding was received from the Ministry of Health, the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant (HNHB) Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), Ontario Health and Cancer Care Ontario during the fiscal year.
Expense breakdown for 2019/2020
Approximately 70% of total expenses are related to salaries, benefits and medical staff remuneration. Inflationary cost pressures for the fiscal year amounted to approximately $8.9 million and in addition $6 million of expense increases related to new or expanded program funding.
Average Emergency Visit: $267
79% of expenses are related to direct patient care like nursing, pharmacy, diagnostic imaging, laboratory and therapies.
An additional 11% is related to support services like housekeeping, food and maintenance. The remaining 10% is for administrative costs.
Average Inpatient cost per day: $1,091
Approximately 76% of expenses are related to direct patient care like nursing, pharmacy, diagnostic imaging, laboratory and therapies.
An additional 14% is related to support services like housekeeping, food and maintenance. The remaining 10% is for administrative costs
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