Another year of achievements to celebrate

The Annual General Meeting of Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare is an opportunity to celebrate the great work of our staff, physicians and volunteers and to recognize the remarkable things we have achieved together over the past year.

Looking back on 2017-2018, I am overwhelmed with pride when I am reminded of everything our teams in Bracebridge and Huntsville have accomplished to further our commitment to outstanding patient- and family-centered care.

From process improvements to reduce our bottom line to initiatives that positively impact the patient care provided at MAHC, there are a number of success stories to share. Here are some of my favourites:

Influenza Immunization Challenge certificates

• We earned silver in the 2017/2018 Influenza Immunization Challenge for achieving 87% immunization for staff, physicians and volunteers, a 13.2% increase over the previous year’s rates. MAHC had the highest rate of immunization among acute care facilities in the North Simcoe Muskoka region.  

• The SMMH Emergency Department was recognized as the community hospital with the largest improvement in wait times. And for complex emergency cases – where the patient is admitted directly from the emergency department – both of our Emergency Departments are currently at half of the provincial wait time, thanks to the good work of our Emergency practitioners.

• We partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association to have mental health crisis workers in our Emergency Depts.

Dr. Jonathan Rhee and the new urology laser

• In response to a significant surge in ill patients here and across Ontario, MAHC was able to scale our beds up by 13 at each site to ensure our patients were admitted in a timely manner to receive care. Our inpatient teams worked tirelessly to manage exceptionally high occupancy without compromising patient care.
  
  
• We expanded our urology program to perform more advanced, less invasive kidney stone surgeries using a state-of-the-art laser, alleviating the burden of travel outside of the region for patients and helping us to recruit a second urologist to the area.
  
  
• We introduced a new surgical service: reconstructive plastic surgery that is being supported by a locum plastic surgeon from Sunnybrook. Our goal is to grow this program through plastic surgeon recruitment efforts.
  
  
• Through grassroots cost-cutting efforts as well as advocacy for additional funding by the Board of Directors and Administration, we achieved another balanced budget position – our sixth in the last seven years.

• Our teams exceeded hand hygiene targets achieving 94.8% compliance ‘before’ patient/environment contact, and 94.5% compliance ‘after’ patient/environment contact; 

SMMH ranks #1 in Canada for
Green Hospital Scorecard waste category

• MAHC earned silver in the Green Hospital Scorecard for our energy reduction and waste diversion efforts. The Bracebridge site ranked in the top five in both the energy and waste categories, and was #1 in Canada for the waste category. The Huntsville site received two awards from Greening Health Care – one of which recognizes a 5% decrease in energy use over the previous year.  

• Environmental Services implemented a reusable sharps and pharmaceutical waste container program; 

• Food & Nutrition Services continues our commitment to serve more than 30% local Ontario food in patient meals; 

• Our physicians supported 100 medical learners through MAHC’s affiliation with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine;  

• Our staff facilitated more than 17,000 student placement hours in various clinical areas for high school and post-secondary students; 

• Our Facilities staff coordinated and completed $1.4 million in investments in our aging buildings through repairs and renovations, and projects focused on improving staff and patient safety and access; 

New Panda Warmer donated to HDMH

• Through the incredible fundraising efforts of our two hospital foundations, over $2.7 million has been invested in equipment, technology, education and infrastructure, all of which is critical to ensure our providers have the tools they need to provide the best quality of care. 

• And thanks to the dedication of approximately 340 volunteers across both sites, our Auxiliaries put in nearly 44,000 hours of service to improve the patient experience and support our teams, while also raising funds for equipment.

On behalf of Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, I commend all of our dedicated staff, physicians and volunteers for the significant role they’ve played in our success and offer my sincere thanks and appreciation for the work they do each and every day to proudly serve our communities with compassion and deliver the best patient outcomes.