KDH identifies its strategic priorities for the current fiscal year

At Kemptville District Hospital we are committed to advancing our mission – to build healthier communities – and achieving our vision: a world of healthy communities.

Our Strategic Plan guides us in this work, mapping the direction we need to take as we move forward toward these goals.

Like all Ontario hospitals, we develop a new Strategic Plan every three years that outlines our strategic priorities and identifies the actions to be taken to advance these priorities.

This past spring, as our 2012-2015 Strategic Plan was drawing to a close, we invited stakeholders to participate in the development of our 2015-2018 Strategic Plan by completing an online survey.

The survey asked respondents to indicate the health conditions most important for KDH to address, ways of generating non-Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) revenues, service areas that could be expanded or acquired, areas of performance to focus on, and their interest in providing input into the patient experience.

We were delighted with the level of participation by a variety of KDH stakeholders: members of the community, our campus and health, social service and community partners, members of the KDH Auxiliary, the Foundation, and our staff and physicians.

After the survey was issued, then CEO Colin Goodfellow departed to pursue other opportunities, and Michel Bilodeau, former CEO of both Bruyère Continuing Care and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), was appointed as Interim CEO at KDH.

The change in leadership had a profound effect on the strategic planning process. As Interim CEO Michel Bilodeau explained, “The CEO leads the process of strategic planning; the resulting plan reflects the CEO’s vision for the hospital.”

To enable KDH’s incoming CEO to have input into the hospital’s future direction, the decision was made to extend our 2012- 2015 Strategic Plan by one year, rather than developing a three-year plan at this time.

The extension outlines the strategic priorities for the current fiscal year, April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016, within five key result areas: Patient Care; Our place in the community; Our place in the health system; Our staff and physicians; and Administration.

The results of the stakeholder survey were compiled and analyzed, and used to inform the development of the 2015/2016 priorities.

For example, one of the key priorities under the Patient Care category is to develop a plan to improve palliative and end-of-life care, identified by survey respondents as the health condition most important for KDH to address.

Another strategic priority in the Patient Care area is to explore options for further development of ambulatory and education services; these could address heart health, adult mental health, and diabetes – identified by stakeholders as second, third and fourth most important health conditions for KDH to address.

Stakeholder feedback was also incorporated into the Administration category, where a key priority is to explore the possibility of renting out KDH operating room space after hours to generate more revenue – the leading suggestion by survey respondents for generating non-MOHLTC funds.

In addition, another Patient Care priority is to find a way to have greater patient and family input in improving the patient experience; this is a result of 47% of survey respondents indicating they would like to play a greater role.

KDH would like to thank each stakeholder who took the time to complete our Strategic Direction survey.

About Kemptville District Hospital

Kemptville District Hospital is Accredited with Exemplary Standing, the highest ranking bestowed by Accreditation Canada. Committed to building healthier communities, we are a model of hospital-led integrated health services within the provincial health system. Kemptville District Hospital consistently ranks among the top hospitals in Ontario for both patient and employee satisfaction. We pride ourselves on being a good partner within the system. Kemptville District Hospital provides primary care management services, acute care hospital services, and advanced orthopaedic care.

For further information contact:

Jenny Read, Communications Manager

T: 613-258-6133 extension 223

Email: jread@kdh.on.ca