This is an opinion column by Niagara Health President and Chief Executive Officer, Lynn Guerriero published in the St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review, Welland Tribune and Niagara This Week.
Earlier this month, I was excited to join members of our board of directors and executive team to launch “Transforming Care,” Niagara Health’s 2023-28 strategic plan.
It’s an ambitious, but realistic strategic plan that is the result of many months of listening: to our people, our patients and our partners.
“Transforming Care” is about living our vision. We are designing modern and co-ordinated care around the needs of patients and their caregivers. We are making it easier to access quality health-care services that meet patient needs and improve their experiences and outcomes. It’s meant to unite us and provide clear focus in the coming years on key areas and initiatives that strengthen the care we provide for the community.
We also recognize that the past three years and the ongoing health human resources shortage is having a profound impact on our people. We must take care of our teams in order to help them take care of our community, and we must also reconfigure how we deliver care to reflect Niagara’s evolving care needs.
By 2028, Niagara Health will:- Ensure a positive patient experience with a focus on the increasing demands of our aging community and work with specific patient populations, beginning with Indigenous partners, to improve care;
- Deliver consistent, high-quality care across all sites, using technology and data, which will get easier with the implementation of our new hospital information system and the completion of a new state-of-the-art, hospital in south Niagara;
- Fully transition to a regional model with two acute care sites, including the opening of the new hospital site, and one ambulatory care site; and
- Continue to build an inclusive and collaborative workplace with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Niagara Health serves nearly 500,000 residents and counting, and as we embark on this period of transformation, we know our plan must be carefully tailored to our patients’ needs. Our plan aims to ensure patients receive the right care based on the best evidence; improving communication and connections; building interdisciplinary teams across all parts of Niagara Health; and facilitating smoother transitions in and out of the hospital.
We have identified three key strategic themes that will inform the direction we take in the coming years:
- Putting people first: Ensuring our team members are equipped for success while building an inclusive and collaborative workplace and strengthening our patient-centred culture.
- Delivering safe and quality care: Improving how patients move across Niagara Health while embedding continuous quality improvement and integrated data and research.
- Transforming how we work: Refining our regional model to become one Niagara Health while implementing interdisciplinary team best practices and enhancing and leveraging technology.
We also know better than ever that we need to stay flexible. As we execute our plan, and as the environment we operate in continues to evolve, we will reflect and adapt. Using what we learned, we will now embark on a significant and exciting journey to transform and strengthen the care we provide for the community.
We want to be a trusted service provider, a welcoming and supportive workplace, and a strong partner. Our people — and our region — are unique, and although implementing solutions that address our challenges and the demands in our specific context may take time, it is essential work.
We will operate as a unified team with seamless communication and collaboration within and across our organization, ensuring patients and the community have access to high-quality hospital care when they need it in a way that works for them.
We know where we are going, and we look forward to doing this challenging and exciting work together.
