Date: March 2, 2010
Editor: Robert Tang |
Vol. 59 –35 |
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Club Program
Past, Present & Future |
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| Last Week: |
Dr. John Wright President and CEO
– Charting the Course for the Future of The
Scarborough Hospital |
| This Week: |
Club Forum - 5 Minutes
per Group |
| Mar 9: |
Lt. Colonel Doug Boot
- Army Provost Marshall – Canadian Armed Forces |
| Mar 16: |
Nnamdi Eguh –
Classification Talk |
Dr. John Wright – President and
CEO The Scarborough Hospital
Rotarian Anne Ellis-Taylor introduced
our guest speaker who was born in Toronto and attended
the University of Toronto Medical School. For his post
graduation degree Dr. Wright took specialist training
at the Harvard Medical School in Gastroenterology.
In 1994, on completion of an Executive
MBA degree at the Rotman School of Business at the University
of Toronto, he was elected Chairman of the Medical Advisory
Committee for an unprecedented three terms or seven
years and sat on the Board of Trustees of University
Health Network (UHN) throughout that time.
Dr. Wright has served as Vice President,
Medical Affairs at the University Health Network (Toronto
General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital and Princess
Margaret Hospital) since September 2000.
Two years ago, Dr. Wright was appointed
President and CEO of The Scarborough Hospital. Formed
in 1999, in a voluntary merger between The Salvation
Army Scarborough Grace Hospital (opened in 1985) and
Scarborough General Hospital (opened in 1956), The Scarborough
Hospital (TSH) comprises of two general hospital sites
and seven community-based sites. Last year the Grace
location was renamed the Birchmount campus. TSH is one
of the largest urban community hospitals in Canada,
with more than 96,000 Emergency visits, 5,300 births
and 33,000 admissions each year. Approximately 3,700
staff members, more than 700 physicians and 800 volunteers
help the hospital provide a diverse range of services
including:
- Cardio-respiratory and Critical Care
- Medicine and Specialized Geriatrics
- Emergency and Urgent Care
- Family Medicine and Community Services
- Surgery, Orthopedics and Rehabilitation
- Maternal Newborn and Childcare
- Mental Health
- Nephrology and Dialysis
In addition to providing a range of community-based
healthcare services, The TSH is a regional centre of
excellence for dialysis, family maternity services,
vascular surgery, pacemakers, corneal implants, sexual
assault care, and community-based mental health and
crisis programs. The dialysis program is the largest
of its kind in North America.
TSH’s recent history has been turbulent but significant
and positive change is underway, starting with:
- New board of directors
- New executive team
- New Mission, Vision, Values
- Extensive community consultation
- Focus on staff morale
The following results have already taken place:
- Hospital and community working together
- Balanced budget
- Improved safety record
- Unprecedented improvements in key hospital indicators
- Continued recruitment of highly respected and skilled
healthcare professionals
- Improved staff satisfaction
- Improved communication internally and externally
- New Community Advisory Council
- Regular, positive media coverage
“It’s a new day.”
- Mission: To provide an outstanding
care experience that meets the unique needs of each
and every patient
- Vision: To be recognized as Canada’s
leader in providing the best healthcare for a global
community
- Values: Integrity Compassion Accountability
Respect Excellence (I CARE)
TSH’s new vision was developed following more
than a year of consultations with internal and external
stakeholders, and Dr. Wright believes the result is
a living, breathing document that speaks to their commitment
to diversity and excellent care. TSH Vision, which Dr.
Wright is particularly excited about, is “To be
recognized as Canada’s leader in providing the
best healthcare for a global community.”
On any given day, the patients and visitors to TSH
reflect the incredibly diverse community of Scarborough.
Two-thirds of our city’s population is visible
minorities, compared with just 40 per cent for the rest
of Toronto. 55 per cent were born outside of Canada
and more than 100 different languages are spoken. For
most hospitals and healthcare providers, such diversity
presents obstacles. Communication is the most obvious
issue – translation and interpretation costs can
be prohibitive when so many different languages are
involved. Familiarity with the unique cultural or religious
needs of patients is another challenge. Some women giving
birth, for instance, might consider medical care from
a male physician to be less than ideal, regardless of
his skills and abilities. Patients who require special
dietary considerations, such as Halal or kosher foods,
may be unable or unwilling to eat the food prepared
in the hospital kitchen.
In many cases, the solutions to these challenges may
be found through education. TSH staff have become very
familiar with diversity training and cultural rounds
aimed at improving their understanding of the unique
needs of our patients and visitors. TSH has a dedicated
Access and Equity department responsible for developing
culturally-sensitive training programs, as well as for
providing volunteer interpreters in 48 different languages.
TSH encourages appreciation of diversity through a number
of hospital/community events including Diversity Day
and religious celebrations such as Eid, Diwali and Wesak.
TSH is also fortunate to have a very strong Spiritual
and Religious Care department that is able to provide
patients with multi-faith care and access to volunteer
spiritual caregivers from every major religion.
In closing, Dr. Wright commented that 2009 marked a
significant growth milestone for the General campus,
when it opened a $72 million Emergency and Critical
Care Centre in its new West Wing. For all of them at
TSH, their ability to provide quality, patient-driven
care really hinges on their ability to successfully
meet the challenges of providing healthcare in a highly
diverse community. This has always been one of their
strengths, but now that it has been identified as our
Vision, our community will expect more and they need
to expect more of themselves.
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