Draft Hospital Improvement Plan – July 2008
On July 15, 2008 the NHS submitted a draft Hospital Improvement Plan to our Local Health Integration Network, which provides a vision for the future of hospital health care in Niagara. The changes recommended are based on years of strategic thinking and experience with the current system. The leadership of the NHS – the Board of Trustees, Administration and Clinical Leaders – welcomed this opportunity to build upon work currently underway to develop a vision for enhanced clinical service delivery.
The Niagara Health System’s vision statement and its core values of optimism, creativity, innovation, collaboration, integration and achievement of the highest standards in the delivery of healthcare in Niagara guided the development of the draft HIP. It:
- Delivers a wider range of hospital services here in the Niagara region;
- Ensures that fewer people have to leave the region to obtain hospital services;
- Brings more people back to the region for hospital treatment closer to their families; and
- Focuses on working with the communities we serve to provide more comprehensive care.
The HIP also responds to some key challenges that the NHS and the Niagara Region are facing – an aging population; an aging workforce; decreasing population wellness and increasing prevalence of chronic disease; a need to enhance patient and staff safety; increasing patient/consumer expectations; demands for a better quality of worklife; rising healthcare costs; and poor integration of care, particularly related to healthcare information sharing.
Care for Increasing Chronic Disease Requires Investments in ‘Enablers’ Beyond Hospital Services
Niagara residents, like other Canadians, are increasingly likely to suffer from long-term (chronic) conditions such as diabetes, asthma and stroke. Evidence-based best practices show that people suffering from chronic conditions have the best outcomes when they receive most of their care from community-based health services. In many cases, it is now possible to prevent them from getting much sicker and requiring hospital care. As medicine evolves, the healthcare system goes beyond the hospital walls. This plan confirms that by advocating for community investments or ‘enablers’ to provide the right care in the right place at the right time. These ‘enablers’ are essential to realizing the recommendations within the plan. They include:
- a significantly improved medical and non-medical transportation system throughout Niagara; and
- more services in the community to deliver non-acute care services like supportive housing and primary care.
This plan supports moving from a provider focus to a patient focus. It speaks to a system that can adapt to patients’ needs. Every recommendation made herein demonstrates that it improves quality of patient care; is sustainable; and is recognized as best practice in the field.
To view the complete draft HIP vision, click HERE.
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