The Winchester District Memorial Hospital Annual General Meeting was held on June 18th, 2019, providing an opportunity to review the past year - and look to the future as well.
“In addition to the outstanding, compassionate care that WDMH provides to our patients every day, we can be very proud of our achievements over the past year,” noted Board Chair Michael Villeneuve and CEO Cholly Boland in their joint report.
Here are a few highlights:
The most recent patient satisfaction survey results show WDMH continues to rank above the provincial average in patient satisfaction.
Quality and patient safety are our #1 priority. Recent accomplishments include continued low re-admission rates, shorter lengths of stay in ER, and 98% catheter protocol compliance.
We have introduced new services such as a respirology clinic, expanded deprescribing and restorative care programs for seniors, enhanced cardiac services, an expanded sleep clinic, and after-hours CT service. The Clinical Information Systems (CIS) team continues to develop the Electronic Hospital Record to help transform the way we deliver care.
We are proud of our awards and achievements. Both our Pharmacy and Laboratory recently achieved accreditation.
We have provided more education sessions than ever before to staff, physicians and volunteers to increase our skills. We shared our knowledge through community outreach activities, by presenting our work at conferences and publishing the results of WDMH research.
We continue to be fiscally responsible and maintained a balanced budget again this year.
Our Patient and Family Engagement Committee (PFEC) ensures the patient voice is heard in everything we do – from the development of patient materials; to participation on quality teams; to even sitting on new employee interview panels.
The WDMH Auxiliary continues to amaze. There are 167 volunteers who impact every area of the hospital and fundraise for vital equipment needs. We are so grateful to these women and men in blue.
Thank you to our generous donors who helped the WMDH Foundation purchase 19 new pieces of equipment for patient care, totaling $593,317. This year, $627,544 was transferred to WDMH.
Collaboration with health and community partners ensures we are all working together to provide the best care close to home. With further health reform underway, there will be even more opportunities to work together.
A highlight of the meeting was the introduction of WDMH’s new Strategic Plan to 2024. It was developed by a Strategic Planning Steering Committee composed of staff, physicians, volunteers, and patients, in collaboration with the WDMH Board of Directors.
The committee heard presentations from health care experts, reviewed regional and provincial documents, and analyzed what is influencing the health care system. They looked at major health trends, reviewed the demographics of the communities served by WDMH and analyzed the hospital’s utilization data. The committee also consulted 17 partner organizations and hosted internal focus groups. Internal and external planning surveys resulted in more than 600 responses.
“This Strategic Plan reconfirms our team’s commitment to patient and family-centred care. It sets our path and our priorities, with a focus on four central themes: Quality/Services, Our People, Partnerships/Integration and Accountability,” explains Michael Villeneuve. The Strategic Plan is available on the WDMH website.
The WDMH Board executive remains the same. Michael Villeneuve begins his second year as Board Chair, with James Pitruniak as Vice Chair and Bruce Millar as Treasurer. Dr. Darren Tse has completed his term as Chief of Staff. A new Chief of Staff will be announced shortly.
“We are proud of the care that we provide every day for patients and families. A sincere thank you to all our Board members, staff, physicians and volunteers who contribute their expertise, passion and commitment to our patients, our hospital and our community.” summed up Cholly Boland.
For more information about Winchester District Memorial Hospital, visit wdmh.on.ca.
WDMH is located at 566 Louise Street in Winchester.