July 2013

A New Kind of Health Care for a Healthier Community

It has truly been a milestone year for our hospital. I am happy to report that over the last 12 months, we have achieved a number of accomplishments that benefit our patients, our community and the hospital overall.

Last April we were still operating under our legacy names of The Credit Valley Hospital and Trillium Health Centre and had just begun work on a new strategy. As we considered our future, we asked ourselves, what do we need to do over the next five to 10 years to meet the growing need in our community? We received more than 23,000 answers when we consulted with our community.

Key achievements from 2012-13 that support our strategic goals of quality, access and sustainability:

BPSO (Best Practice Spotlight Organization) candidacy

The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) recognized Trillium Health Partners as a candidate for their Best Practice Spotlight Organization designation. Trillium Health Partners made a three-year commitment to implement best practices in six clinical areas that respond directly to our community's needs: Breastfeeding; Developing and Sustaining Nursing Leadership; Assessment and Management of Pain; Reducing Foot Complications for People with Diabetes; Prevention of Falls and Fall Injuries in Older Adults; and Smoking Cessation.

TAVI Program (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation)

Our regional centre for cardiac care continues to grow and adopt leading-edge new procedures and treatments, such as transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).

TAVI is a minimally invasive heart procedure that provides interventions for elderly or frail patients with advanced heart failure who are not well enough to undergo traditional aortic valve replacement surgery.

Recognized by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) for Quality and Safety

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) recognized Trillium Health Partners as a leader in quality and safety – ranking this organization among the best in the GTA for excellence in quality care and patient safety.

Our Credit Valley Hospital site was ranked higher than the national average in 18 out of 21 categories, and our Mississauga Hospital site was ranked higher than the national average in 16 out of 21 categories.

Brachytherapy

We have expanded programs at The Carlo Fidani Regional Cancer Centre and introduced brachytherapy, a leading-edge cancer treatment.

Brachytherapy is a form of radiation for some types of cancer therapy that is highly targeted that takes less time and is much easier on patients' health. The therapy results in less tissue damage and a shorter treatment period for patients than other forms of therapy.

Reduced emergency wait times

As one hospital, we have improved access to care by reducing our emergency wait times by 10 per cent. For the average patient that means 4.5 hours less time spent in the emergency department waiting room. This was achieved despite a record increase of 3.4 per cent in emergency department visits over the past year. Managing patient flow across the hospital, as opposed to within individual sites, has helped patients who need beds to get them more quickly.

New MRI machine

A new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine was installed at Mississauga Hospital, increasing access to care by reducing the procedure time for many types of scans. The patient experience is enhanced by providing a larger, more accommodating area for the patient.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging is one of the best methods used in detecting, diagnosing and treating challenging conditions and diseases. Technological advances over the last decade have dramatically improved the quality of MR imaging. When used before surgeries, MRI can help to significantly improve outcomes and reduce the patient's surgical time.

The new MRI is located in the Diagnostic Imaging Department. The space has been expanded and reconfigured to accommodate a new patient waiting area and reception station, patient preparation rooms and rooms to house system accessories and equipment. These improvements help ensure that patients from across the region have increased access to high quality MRI diagnostics for a wide range of conditions and diseases.

Seniors Friendly Hospital Strategy

Over the past year, we introduced a number of initiatives focused on enabling older adults to maintain optimal health and function while they are hospitalized so they can transition successfully home or to the next appropriate level of care.

Workshops and training was provided for inter-professional staff, clinicians, support staff and volunteers. Development of an e-learning module is being rolled out across the region to raise awareness for all staff and volunteers about how to help older adults in hospital.

Improved technology enhances patient care

This year we saw a number of improvements related to our use of technology. The introduction of improved technology is helping to enhance patient care and efficiency across a number of areas.

• We introduced an electronic physician order entry system, which has improved efficiency across all sites.
• We improved patient safety and quality through implementation of the integrated OPIS (Oncology Patient Information System) across sites and an advanced Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) system.
• We improved our portal for sharing information, which gives clinicians full access to patient records across all our hospital sites. With this REACH viewer implementation, clinical information can also be shared across the region, including Halton Healthcare Services, Headwaters Healthcare Centre, William Osler and Trillium Health Partners. The portal has also expanded to include UHN and Ontario Laboratory Information System data, and is being extended to CCAC and Long-term Care partners to improve transitions.
• We also introduced a new website that offers translations in the top six languages served in our community and we created a better experience for patients as they move from one site or clinician to another.

Medical Education

We have increased the sustainability of health care in our community through our rewarding partnership with the University of Toronto and the Mississauga Academy of Medicine (MAM). This fall we will have a full complement of students in the first and second-year of their medical studies and working as third-year clerks under the guidance of our doctors – for a total of 162 learners from MAM.

In addition to training undergraduate learners through MAM, we also support postgraduate training at our hospital in a number of specialty areas and in family medicine. Our family practice residency is well-established, with 36 residents working with us each year, benefiting not only the learners and our hospital, but also our community. A recent survey of physicians who completed our family practice residency found that 38 per cent said they elected to stay and practice in Mississauga.

New leadership realignment realizes efficiencies and strengthens teamwork

We began the year by strengthening our foundation for teamwork by building our organizational leadership structure and re-organizing service areas into 13 clinical programs that will help us deliver the goals we set out in our strategic plan. We realigned our leadership structure and realized $2.9million in savings. These efficiencies were reinvested to improve quality and support higher service levels.

Our clinical programs are based on a co-lead model that partners the clinical role of Chief and Medical Director for each program with a Patient Care Services Director to work together to oversee service delivery and ongoing quality of care.

We're pleased to have put into place a strong team of experienced and talented physicians and administrators to lead and sustain these programs. Supported by our pharmacy, as well as our enabling services, our interdisciplinary model ensures accountability and sustainability across all sites.

In what has been a milestone year, Trillium Health Partners' Board of Directors has worked to ensure that the organization continues to deliver high quality care, while taking steps forward to advance our mission for a new kind of health care for a healthier community.

At our Annual General Meeting on June 6, 2013, the following announcements were made regarding the Board Membership:

Edward Sellers was elected Vice Chair of the Board of Directors. Edward is a senior partner in the business law department and former chair of the restructuring practice group at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt. In his role, Edward provides mission-critical advice to clients on commercial matters with an emphasis on restructurings and related acquisitions, divestitures, financings and governance. His community leadership includes serving on the University of Winnipeg Board of Regents and the University of Manitoba Senate, as director and executive committee member of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, and as director of The St. Patrick's Benevolent Society of Toronto. Edward joined the Hospital's Board in 2007 and has served as Board Secretary and as a Community Advisory Committee, Governance, Quality, and Risk Management Committee Member..

The following individuals were elected as members of the Board of Directors:

Chitwant Kohli is Senior Vice President of Retail Finance at Royal Bank of Canada. He is responsible for providing finance leadership and support to Canadian Banking, Caribbean and US Banking, Wealth Management, Insurance, Technology & Operations and Global Functions. Chitwant is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA). He holds Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm) degrees.

Perry Miele is Chairman and Managing Partner of Beringer Capital and has over 20 years of experience in the advertising and marketing industry. Since 2006, Perry has served as the Executive Chairman of Budco, a marketing and fulfillment company located in Detroit servicing the country's largest Fortune 500 Companies. Perry is a member of the Young Presidents Organization. Perry has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Ontario.

Stacey Mowbray is the President and CEO of Second Cup Ltd. Stacey has held positions as Chief Marketing Officer at Molson Canada, President of the Milestone's chain and SVP Branding and Marketing at Cara Operations and Vice President of Marketing at Pepsi Canada. Stacey started her career in sales and marketing over 20 years ago at the Weston Group. Stacey has a Masters Business Degree from York University and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University.