Around Waypoint with Carol Lambie, President and CEO
Around Waypoint with Carol Lambie, President and CEO
Spring is upon us, the weather is getting warmer and the flowers are starting to bloom. It’s a time of year that always brings renewed optimism for me and a chance to reflect.
It’s been a busy year at Waypoint and we’ve highlighted some of what we’ve been working on in this edition of our Sharing the Good Things newsletter, not the least of which is our transformation to a completely electronic health record. It is an endeavour that was likely the biggest development in technology in our hospital’s history. We are now well on our way through the second of a three-stage implementation plan and we’re already seeing positive results.
Through it all we’ve been supporting our staff and patients with a robust and dynamic change management plan using the ADKAR model. This model has allowed us to provide a simple, easy-to-use framework for everyone in the hospital to think about change, help us understand their individual needs and what supports were needed for a successful transition.
We’ve also been busy supporting our community through advocacy and awareness and by providing Mental Health First Aid training to not only our staff, but for the community as well. Just like physical first aid is provided until medical treatment can be obtained, Mental Health First Aid is given until appropriate support is found or until the crisis is resolved. The 12-hour course teaches skills needed to help someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a crisis. Through the generous support of our donors, we were able to provide three courses last year and have three courses planned for this year. If you’re interested in obtaining more information, please contact our Communications Office at 705.549.3181, ext. 2214.
As always, health and safety for our patients and staff has been an important part of our focus this year. You may have heard about the charges laid by the Ministry of Labour in March under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The charges are related to an incident at the hospital in April 2016 and is the first time Waypoint has been involved in charges from the Ministry of Labour.
We have worked very closely with the Ministry of Labour since the incident in 2016 and responded to all orders at that time. For this and all incidents, we are committed to working collectively to make improvements that support the health and safety needs of everyone. Extensive safety measures and processes exist across our programs and we are continuously evaluating them and looking for ways to prevent unfortunate incidents like this one. We have multiple supports in place, including a Joint Health and Safety Committee, two Health and Safety Coordinators and a computerized internal incident reporting system for reporting, reviewing and developing strategies to mitigate hazards, incidents or other concerns.
Waypoint specializes in treating patients with complex and serious mental illness and addictions, which includes caring for people with behavioural, cognitive and developmental disorders. Quality of care and staff and patient safety are our highest priorities. We continually strive to maintain an environment that is safe as well as therapeutic.
As we ramp up for another great year, I look forward to the continued success on all of our projects underway, including the Specialized Geriatric Services Program. This team has been working hard over the past year on designing an integrated system that supports the medical and mental health needs of the frail elderly in North Simcoe Muskoka and developing of a framework to better support patients with behaviours in Alternate Level of Care (ALC) beds. There will be much more to come from this team in the coming months.
With June as Seniors Month, we are welcoming senior care specialist Dr. Samir Sinha as our special guest at the upcoming Annual General Meeting on June 2. Dr. Sinha is the Director of Geriatrics at Sinai Health System and the University Health Network in Toronto, the provincial lead for Ontario’s Seniors Strategy and international expert in the care of older adults. I hope you’ll join us at the hospital to hear Dr. Sinha speak. If you’d like more information or to RSVP, please call 705.549.3181, ext. 2073 or visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/3YSZCB3.