At Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, we are always looking for ways to improve our patients’ care. Our people – the staff, physicians and volunteers at our hospitals in Huntsville and Bracebridge – are our greatest asset, and we strive to ensure they have all of the skills and tools they need to perform at their best.
Especially in a hospital setting, knowledge is power and the more knowledge our staff has, the better equipped they are to help our patients. That’s why we have substantially increased the number of education hours for our staff, from over 3,000 in 2011 to 11,000 in 2012. Education opportunities are available both inside and outside the two hospitals.
Last year, we brought in experts to teach our staff about neonatal resuscitation, trauma nursing and emergency paediatric nursing. We have also developed several in-house programs that were made available to our staff. For example, our Clinical Nurse Educator recently developed an emergency room nurse training program and critical care nurse training program. These programs gave our nurses the opportunity to expand their skills and knowledge and the flexibility to work in different units of the hospital.
This year we revised and implemented a new performance management system. The management team and frontline staff got together to brainstorm ideas. In addition to providing safe, quality care, we really focus on individual productivity and how it impacts the team as a whole.
A new Leadership Development Program will start in May for both our formal and informal leaders at MAHC. We used the Ontario Health Association Leadership Development Model to put the program together. Managers will spend four hours a month working through 15 competencies. The program includes reading materials, videos, classes and workshops. Throughout the session, our managers will be able to strengthen their leadership skills. The program will also be open to other staff members who would like to increase their leadership abilities.
Our doctors, nurses and support staff are tasked with providing a high standard of quality care, so it’s a priority for us that they are given the opportunity to learn and grow.
To learn more about Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, please visit our website at www.mahc.ca.
Hi, my name is Cheryl Harrison and in May 2022 I became President and CEO at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare. I'm pleased to blog bimonthly on matters of interest across MAHC's two hospital sites. From time to time, others have taken the pen as well on my behalf. Thanks for reading! Note: the CEO Blog has previously featured blog posts by Vickie Kaminski (Interim President and CEO January-May 2022) and by Natalie Bubela (President and CEO January 2012-December 2021)
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Saturday, 18 May 2013
Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare sets new quality goals for 2013-2014
Every year, Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare creates a new Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) that focuses on setting safety and quality targets for us to achieve. The provincial government mandates through the Excellent Care for All Act that this plan be created each year.
The 2013-2014 plan commenced on April 1st, and the full details of the plan are available on our website. Throughout the year, the progress and results will be reviewed by our Quality Council and the Quality and Safety Committee of the Board of Directors.
This year’s Quality Improvement Plan is important to all of us at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare. We are committed to maintaining and improving a culture of quality and safety, and we continue to explore new ways to provide care as we know the importance of meeting our patients’ expectations and improving their hospital experience through the provision of safe, quality care.
In the year ahead, we will be working at strengthening different areas of our organization, including access, effectiveness, integration, being patient centered and safety. We have set specific objectives that we want to meet, including reducing emergency room wait times; unnecessary time spent in the hospitals and unnecessary readmissions, improving compliance in hand hygiene and medication reconciliation at admission/discharge, and our ongoing commitment to decrease hospital-acquired infections, like C. Difficile. The majority of our QIP indicators this year have focused the organization on improvements to the safety of the care we provide and will assist us to improve the quality of care our patients receive and deserve.
Last year’s QIP helped us reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections like C. Difficile to below the provincial rate, avoid patient falls, reduce the number of alternate level of care days and receive above average results in patient satisfaction.
You can follow our progress on our QIP indicators online with our Balanced Scorecard. Those interested can also view the 2012-2013 Quality Improvement Plan’s year end progress report.
For more information on Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, please visit our website at www.mahc.ca.
The 2013-2014 plan commenced on April 1st, and the full details of the plan are available on our website. Throughout the year, the progress and results will be reviewed by our Quality Council and the Quality and Safety Committee of the Board of Directors.
This year’s Quality Improvement Plan is important to all of us at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare. We are committed to maintaining and improving a culture of quality and safety, and we continue to explore new ways to provide care as we know the importance of meeting our patients’ expectations and improving their hospital experience through the provision of safe, quality care.
In the year ahead, we will be working at strengthening different areas of our organization, including access, effectiveness, integration, being patient centered and safety. We have set specific objectives that we want to meet, including reducing emergency room wait times; unnecessary time spent in the hospitals and unnecessary readmissions, improving compliance in hand hygiene and medication reconciliation at admission/discharge, and our ongoing commitment to decrease hospital-acquired infections, like C. Difficile. The majority of our QIP indicators this year have focused the organization on improvements to the safety of the care we provide and will assist us to improve the quality of care our patients receive and deserve.
Last year’s QIP helped us reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections like C. Difficile to below the provincial rate, avoid patient falls, reduce the number of alternate level of care days and receive above average results in patient satisfaction.
You can follow our progress on our QIP indicators online with our Balanced Scorecard. Those interested can also view the 2012-2013 Quality Improvement Plan’s year end progress report.
For more information on Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, please visit our website at www.mahc.ca.
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare goes green
Two years ago the team at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) began looking at how efficiently our hospitals in Bracebridge and Huntsville were running and where there were opportunities to do better.
MAHC joined Greening of Healthcare, a cooperative that works with partner hospitals to lower energy costs and raise environmental performance. This gave us the tools we needed to obtain, manage and assess data and compare it to other organizations. It is also a place to share best practices and learn ways to plan and implement improvements.
Experts were engaged and helped to identify significant savings through a number of different initiatives. This team of experts, including energy advisors, engineers, architects, and project managers, broke down the opportunities for savings and efficiencies into projects by looking at areas that had the biggest expenditure of energy.
Benchmarking the current practice has also helped us to identify the anticipated utility savings, which are estimated at 22 per cent at the Huntsville site and 25 per cent at the Bracebridge site. The total savings between both hospitals is estimated at $350,000 annually. The energy efficiency projects will focus on upgrading to more efficient ventilation systems, domestic hot water heating, lighting and automation and will cost $2.8 million.
In February, the MAHC Board of Directors approved these initiatives and the first phase is scheduled to begin in May 2013 using a staged approach, with the heating systems being upgraded during the summer and the cooling systems in the winter. The project is expected to take 18 months to complete, and the hospitals will start to achieve the full benefits by the end of summer 2014.
The project will be funded through a bank loan that will be repaid over seven and a half years using the savings the efficiencies will produce. Once the loans have been repaid, the savings will be reinvested into programs and services, providing greater care for patients.
We are excited for the project, as it will not only reduce our hospitals’ environmental footprint and save money, but will also increase the comfort level for both patients and staff.
For more information on other initiatives at MAHC, please visit our website at www.mahc.ca.
MAHC joined Greening of Healthcare, a cooperative that works with partner hospitals to lower energy costs and raise environmental performance. This gave us the tools we needed to obtain, manage and assess data and compare it to other organizations. It is also a place to share best practices and learn ways to plan and implement improvements.
Experts were engaged and helped to identify significant savings through a number of different initiatives. This team of experts, including energy advisors, engineers, architects, and project managers, broke down the opportunities for savings and efficiencies into projects by looking at areas that had the biggest expenditure of energy.
Benchmarking the current practice has also helped us to identify the anticipated utility savings, which are estimated at 22 per cent at the Huntsville site and 25 per cent at the Bracebridge site. The total savings between both hospitals is estimated at $350,000 annually. The energy efficiency projects will focus on upgrading to more efficient ventilation systems, domestic hot water heating, lighting and automation and will cost $2.8 million.
In February, the MAHC Board of Directors approved these initiatives and the first phase is scheduled to begin in May 2013 using a staged approach, with the heating systems being upgraded during the summer and the cooling systems in the winter. The project is expected to take 18 months to complete, and the hospitals will start to achieve the full benefits by the end of summer 2014.
The project will be funded through a bank loan that will be repaid over seven and a half years using the savings the efficiencies will produce. Once the loans have been repaid, the savings will be reinvested into programs and services, providing greater care for patients.
We are excited for the project, as it will not only reduce our hospitals’ environmental footprint and save money, but will also increase the comfort level for both patients and staff.
For more information on other initiatives at MAHC, please visit our website at www.mahc.ca.
Tuesday, 19 March 2013
You can help make MAHC better
At Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, patients are always our top priority. It is our goal that the patients we see each and every day are receiving the best care possible in a safe environment.
We are always looking for ways to improve the services offered to our patients, which is why we have begun to develop a customer service excellence program. In addition to training our staff and implementing programs to improve our service, we also welcome feedback from our patients and their visitors – positive or negative.
If you have a concern about your care or the care of a loved one, your first approach should be engaging your health care team. Speak to one of the doctors, nurses or other health care professionals directly involved in providing the care about any concerns you have. Good communication with your health care providers is essential and helps to ensure the highest quality of care.
If you are unable to resolve your concerns with your health care team, you can ask to speak to the manager or shift leader and have them help you find a resolution. You also have the option of contacting the administration at any of our sites, either over the phone or in writing.
If a serious issue arises with the wellbeing of one of our patients, be assured that we provide full disclosure of the events and repercussions of the incident. We plan meetings with the patient and the patient’s family to review what happened and what steps will be taken to correct the problem in a transparent manner.
MAHC is also committed to the highest standards of professional, ethical and legal behaviour by employees, medical staff, volunteers and students and has a whistleblowing policy to handle complaints associated with a breach of professional, ethical, financial or legal behaviour.
At MAHC, all feedback is greatly appreciated and we take every compliment and complaint seriously. The information we get from you, our patients, helps us form our programs and policies to better serve you.
For more information about how you can provide feedback, please visit our website at www.mahc.ca.
We are always looking for ways to improve the services offered to our patients, which is why we have begun to develop a customer service excellence program. In addition to training our staff and implementing programs to improve our service, we also welcome feedback from our patients and their visitors – positive or negative.
If you have a concern about your care or the care of a loved one, your first approach should be engaging your health care team. Speak to one of the doctors, nurses or other health care professionals directly involved in providing the care about any concerns you have. Good communication with your health care providers is essential and helps to ensure the highest quality of care.
If you are unable to resolve your concerns with your health care team, you can ask to speak to the manager or shift leader and have them help you find a resolution. You also have the option of contacting the administration at any of our sites, either over the phone or in writing.
If a serious issue arises with the wellbeing of one of our patients, be assured that we provide full disclosure of the events and repercussions of the incident. We plan meetings with the patient and the patient’s family to review what happened and what steps will be taken to correct the problem in a transparent manner.
MAHC is also committed to the highest standards of professional, ethical and legal behaviour by employees, medical staff, volunteers and students and has a whistleblowing policy to handle complaints associated with a breach of professional, ethical, financial or legal behaviour.
At MAHC, all feedback is greatly appreciated and we take every compliment and complaint seriously. The information we get from you, our patients, helps us form our programs and policies to better serve you.
For more information about how you can provide feedback, please visit our website at www.mahc.ca.
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
At MAHC, infection control is everyone’s responsibility
Many people are wary about entering a hospital, as they are afraid of getting sick. While broken arms are not contagious, there are many patients that come to the hospital with colds, flus and other contagious infections, which could potentially make the facility a hotspot for illnesses and bacteria.
That’s why infection control is so important to Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare. All of our facilities have policies and procedures in place to minimize the spread of infection and to keep our patients and staff safe.
Many infections are transmitted indirectly through touch and environmental surfaces, which is why proper hand washing is so important. All staff at MAHC maintain strict hand hygiene protocols, but it’s also important for visitors to ensure their hands are properly cleaned. Most people don’t wash their hands long enough to kill bacteria. In order to be effective, you should rub your soapy hands together for at least 15 seconds. Try humming the “Happy Birthday” song twice to help you keep count.
MAHC also has alcohol-based hand sanitizer throughout all of our facilities and visitors are asked to use it upon entering and exiting the building or a patient room and throughout their stay. Masks are also available for those with respiratory infections, colds and flus. Wearing the mask can prevent viruses from being spread to others when we cough or sneeze.
In addition, MAHC has an Infection Prevention and Control program that includes surveillance, education, policy development and review and continuous quality improvement.
If you feel unwell or are ill with a cough, fever, respiratory infection or diarrhea, please do not visit the hospital until you are feeling better. It is also wise to take precautions against influenza and get your flu shot annually.
For more information on MAHC’s facilities, policies and procedures, please visit our website at www.mahc.ca.
Saturday, 19 January 2013
Understanding Health System Funding Reform
The way that Ontario hospitals will be funded has changed. Last year, the provincial government introduced Ontario’s Action Plan for Health Care, which will be implemented in all hospitals over the next several years.
Hospitals previously received funding as one lump sum that would cover their services. The new funding system is designed to be more patient-centric and hospitals will be funded based on the number of patients they see, the services they deliver, the evidence-based quality of those services and the specific needs of the broader population they serve. This strategy will also see a shift of health care dollars into the community setting and hospitals may begin to consider specialities and focus on what they do best, so in other words not all hospitals will do all things.
At Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, we support these changes to funding. The new plan uses evidence to inform health spending so that money truly follows the patient and drives quality improvement. We feel that funding reform is necessary to ensure that funding is provided where the population needs exist and achieves the best value. Over the next few years, we will be working to meet the challenge of this new funding system.
The new funding program will be implemented in stages over three years and is made up of two components: Health Based Allocation Model (HBAM) and Quality Based Procedures. Both are funded at pre-determined best practice rates and are based on the volume of procedures performed.
Beginning in the 2012/13 fiscal year, HBAM funding will account for 40 per cent of MAHC’s funding. Quality Based Procedures include hip and knee replacement surgery, cataract surgery and chronic kidney disease in 2012/13 and will account for up to six per cent of the hospital’s funding. Over the next two years, the number of procedures included in the category will increase until it represents 30 per cent of the hospital’s funding.
With help from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, we will be working to meet the challenge of the new funding plans. As always, patients will be our first priority every step of the way.
Read more about Health System Funding Reform.
Hospitals previously received funding as one lump sum that would cover their services. The new funding system is designed to be more patient-centric and hospitals will be funded based on the number of patients they see, the services they deliver, the evidence-based quality of those services and the specific needs of the broader population they serve. This strategy will also see a shift of health care dollars into the community setting and hospitals may begin to consider specialities and focus on what they do best, so in other words not all hospitals will do all things.
At Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, we support these changes to funding. The new plan uses evidence to inform health spending so that money truly follows the patient and drives quality improvement. We feel that funding reform is necessary to ensure that funding is provided where the population needs exist and achieves the best value. Over the next few years, we will be working to meet the challenge of this new funding system.
The new funding program will be implemented in stages over three years and is made up of two components: Health Based Allocation Model (HBAM) and Quality Based Procedures. Both are funded at pre-determined best practice rates and are based on the volume of procedures performed.
Beginning in the 2012/13 fiscal year, HBAM funding will account for 40 per cent of MAHC’s funding. Quality Based Procedures include hip and knee replacement surgery, cataract surgery and chronic kidney disease in 2012/13 and will account for up to six per cent of the hospital’s funding. Over the next two years, the number of procedures included in the category will increase until it represents 30 per cent of the hospital’s funding.
With help from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, we will be working to meet the challenge of the new funding plans. As always, patients will be our first priority every step of the way.
Read more about Health System Funding Reform.
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
Full time job search made easier for nursing graduates
From the moment you walk into the emergency department to the day you leave the hospital, you will come into contact with many nurses. Registered Nurses (RNs), Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) and Nurse Practitioners (NPs) play an integral role in our healthcare system.
As the population ages, the demand for nurses increases. At Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC), our nurses provide our patients with high-quality, skilled, compassionate care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We understand that the competition for nurses is strong and we know that many new nurses struggle to find full-time work once they have graduated.
We are excited to be a part of the Nursing Graduate Guarantee, an initiative of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care that helps find employment for new RN and RPN graduates. Our participation in the program also fosters continual learning and career development of members of our staff who want to upgrade their skills or become nurses.
Through this program, the ministry funds the salaries and benefits of nursing graduates for six months as they work alongside experienced MAHC nurses in the Emergency Room and Med-Surg and Complex Continuing Care units. In return, MAHC guarantees their employment for an additional six weeks.
In addition to gaining real experience, the nursing graduates who participate in this program also have more than seven months after graduation to find full-time employment.
We have been participating in this program for five years and have seen tremendous results. The program benefits both the graduates and MAHC. The nursing graduates receive hands-on mentoring and gain the experience of working in a healthcare facility. We have also retained a number of the nurses who participated in this program in permanent positions.
I would encourage all nursing students to look into this program and see if it is a good fit for you. To find out if you are eligible for the program or to learn more, visit Health Force Ontario. Learn more about opportunities for employment at MAHC.
As the population ages, the demand for nurses increases. At Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC), our nurses provide our patients with high-quality, skilled, compassionate care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We understand that the competition for nurses is strong and we know that many new nurses struggle to find full-time work once they have graduated.
We are excited to be a part of the Nursing Graduate Guarantee, an initiative of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care that helps find employment for new RN and RPN graduates. Our participation in the program also fosters continual learning and career development of members of our staff who want to upgrade their skills or become nurses.
Through this program, the ministry funds the salaries and benefits of nursing graduates for six months as they work alongside experienced MAHC nurses in the Emergency Room and Med-Surg and Complex Continuing Care units. In return, MAHC guarantees their employment for an additional six weeks.
In addition to gaining real experience, the nursing graduates who participate in this program also have more than seven months after graduation to find full-time employment.
We have been participating in this program for five years and have seen tremendous results. The program benefits both the graduates and MAHC. The nursing graduates receive hands-on mentoring and gain the experience of working in a healthcare facility. We have also retained a number of the nurses who participated in this program in permanent positions.
I would encourage all nursing students to look into this program and see if it is a good fit for you. To find out if you are eligible for the program or to learn more, visit Health Force Ontario. Learn more about opportunities for employment at MAHC.
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| Nursing graduates include former staff and nursing students at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare |
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