ORANGEVILE, ON - June 21, 2022 – During tonight’s General Meeting, Headwaters Health Care Centre recognized the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the hospital, celebrated the hospital’s achievements and recognized teams and departments that made a significant contribution to the hospital and community in the past year.
Hospital President and CEO, Kim Delahunt, praised the heroic efforts of staff, lauded important partnerships and thanked the community for their ongoing support during what was another challenging year. “I can’t thank our staff, physicians, and volunteers enough for their commitment to our patients and to one another,” said Delahunt. “We are rebuilding and focussing on our future together and I am optimistic about what we can achieve in the year ahead.”
Kim Delahunt also discussed important partnerships the hospital has within the community, including with the Hills of Headwaters Collaborative, Dufferin-Caledon’s Ontario Health Team and others which were instrumental in hospital efforts over the past year. Signs of transition are ahead, with the amalgamation of the COVID-19 Assessment Centre and the Dufferin Area Cold & Flu Clinic to the Orangeville Pharmacy, with the return of hospital volunteers, and expected changes this summer with hospital screening and visitation protocols put in place during the pandemic.
Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones provided remarks at the General Meeting. “I am proud that our government is planning for the future by investing 6.6 million to fund 13 additional beds at Headwaters Health Care Centre,” said Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones. “Our community relies on HHCC to provide care close to home, and this investment will ensure more patients can access care they deserve close to home.”
Special honours were bestowed during the meeting to two award recipients.
The Chair’s Award of Recognition was presented to Headwaters Health Care Centre’s CARE4 Implementation Team for the successful implementation of Meditech EXPANSE. This was the largest clinical information system upgrade the hospital has undertaken and it was done in the middle of a pandemic, in September 2021 with three other partner hospitals, Collingwood General and Marine Hospital; Georgian Bay General Hospital; and Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre. This upgrade provides patients, families, and caregivers with easy access to medical records, lab results, and appointment history.
“I am so pleased to be part of this team and very happy to accept this award on behalf of the CARE4 Implementation Team for a successful implementation of Meditech EXPANSE. Having such a successful go-live in-the-midst of a world-wide pandemic, is inspirational and a true testament to the teamwork and passion demonstrated at our hospital, and with our partners. We couldn’t have done this without you,” said Cathy van Leipsig, Vice President Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer.
“It is truly an honour to accept this award on behalf of our Headwaters Expanse Team. Bringing the future of healthcare to HHCC would not have been possible without their commitment and dedication to our patients and communities,” added Dr. Sanjeev Singwi, physician and Chief Medical Information Officer. “We would also like to thank the Care-4 partnership for their leadership and support.”
The Dr. David Scott Award was presented to the Laboratory team at Headwaters Health Care Centre for their amazing level of service during the pandemic, processing swabs and while continuing to provide the high level of service at the hospital. They support the processing for all of swabs completed at the Headwaters Health Care Centre Assessment Centre and supported processing and loading results for all swabs completed by the Dufferin Area Family Health Team in the Cold and Flu Clinic.
They support the processing of all the swabs from retirement home staff, long term care staff, first responders, homeless shelter staff, dental and optometrist staff, hospice, schools and school staff; the lab also continues to support all hospital staff, physicians, and pre-operative patients who require COVID-19 tests.
All in all, this amounted to a combined nearly one hundred and seventeen thousand tests completed since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. For our own internal team, they have conducted about eight thousand and six hundred swabs – for people required to be tested in order to work their next shift. This in-house testing had a turn around time was about an hour.
“This recognition means a lot to our department,” said Walid Merhi, Manager, Laboratory Services. “My team is a group of talented people who is very committed. I’m so proud of them for always pulling together, as a team.”
The General Meeting historically begins with a patient story. This year, Tom Reid, Chief, Dufferin County Paramedic Service, recounted an incident that happened with a local area toddler, Luca, whose life was saved through the collaboration of first responders and hospital staff. The toddler had experienced a febrile seizure, which is typical in about three to five per cent of Canadian children. Thankfully, it is a condition children typically grow out of by the age of five. Sharon, mom, said, “Anything with your child is serious especially when they are little and can’t tell you what they are going through. The next day you would never even know it had happened. It was like a bad dream. Luca was completely fine, running around and playing with his big brother.”
Recordings of the meeting will be available on the hospital’s website. Headwaters’ 2021/2022 Annual Report and Audited Financial statements are also available online.
More information about the Dr. David Scott and Chair’s Award Recipients follows.
A recording of the meeting can be found here.
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For further information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Jennifer Hamilton, MA, MBA Director, Communication & Stakeholder Relations, Headwaters Health Care Centre | Tel: 519-278-5085| Email: jhamilton@headwatershealth.ca | Subscribe to our e-newsletter
BACKGROUNDER
Chair’s Award: This award is given at the discretion of the Chair of the Board of Directors.
Recipient: Headwaters Health Care Centre’s Meditech Implementation Team for the successful Implementation of Meditech EXPANSE, our new electronic health care record.
Meditech EXPANSE was the largest clinical information system upgrade the hospital has undertaken and it was done in the middle of a pandemic, in September 2021 with three other partner hospitals, Collingwood General and Marine Hospital; Georgian Bay General Hospital; and Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre. This upgrade provides patients, families, and caregivers with easy access to medical records, lab results, and appointment history.
Dr. Sanjeev Singwi, physician and Chief Medical Information Officer and Cathy van Leipsig, Vice President, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer and Meditech EXPANSE Executive Sponsor accepted the award on behalf of Headwaters Implementation Team.
This implementation touched all areas and departments at the hospital and all staff and physicians were impacted and involved. The Pharmacy department, for example, implemented major changes including new equipment and devices, and numerous upgrades to promote enhanced patient medication safety practices.
Dr. Singwi was integral in ensuring widespread physician engagement and involvement throughout the implementation. Headwaters continues to see some of the highest Computerized Provider Order Entry or CPOE uptakes across the partnership. CPOE refers to physician’s entering and sending treatment instructions – including medication, laboratory, and radiology orders – through a computer application rather than paper, fax, or telephone.
The Emergency Department is another area that was impacted greatly by this new system and continues to work through and persevere with new workflows and processes under the stellar leadership of Dr. Paul Scotton, Department Chief.
Last week, a patient portal called -- my health care – was launched which gives patients the opportunity to be fully engaged in their own health care journey. From any device, patients can log in to the portal and view their health information obtained from across all four partner hospitals. Easier access to health information will give patients, along with their families and caregivers, the ability to better manage and participate in their own care.
During the past year, the Patient Portal Steering Committee, comprised of representation from the four sites, physician, and clinical leadership, as well as a Patient, Family and Caregiver (PFAC) Working Group, supported the team building the patient portal.
The amount of change and learning of new workflows and methods to capture patient information in the new Meditech EXPANSE platform cannot be minimized. All teams across the hospital have worked extremely hard to work in the new system and should be very proud of the significant progress made – made even more challenging by a pandemic.
Photo Caption: Joe Karol, RPN was a member of the CARE4 Meditech Expanse training team at Headwaters.
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Dr. David Scott Award: The Award is named after retired surgeon and life-long Orangeville resident, the late Dr. David Scott, who came to Orangeville in 1962 as the town’s first specialist in general surgery. He dedicated his life to improving the health and wellness of the community. The Dr. David Scott Award is presented annually and recognizes individuals or groups who have gone above - and - beyond to improve overall health and wellness in Dufferin-Caledon and promote linkages between the hospital and the community. Dr. Scott passed away in 2020, and this award continues his legacy.
The Award is based on an open nomination process and can be awarded to an individual or a team.
Recipient: The Laboratory Department at Headwaters Health Care Centre.
Led by Walid Merhi, who joined Headwaters a year ago as Manager, the lab continued to support the processing for all of the swabs completed at the Headwaters Health Care Centre Assessment Centre and supported processing and loading results for all swabs completed by the Dufferin Area Family Health Team in the Cold and Flu Clinic.
They support the processing of all the swabs from retirement home staff, long term care staff, first responders, homeless shelter staff, dental and optometrist staff, hospice, schools and school staff; the lab also continues to support all hospital staff, physicians, and patients who require COVID-19 tests.
All in all, this amounted to a combined nearly one hundred and seventeen thousand tests completed since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.
For our own internal team, they have conducted about eight thousand and six hundred swabs – for people required to be tested in order to work their next shift. This in-house testing had a turn around time was about an hour.
This supported staff returning to work in a timelier way and supported decision-making for timely patient care. The team was able to support the additional needs necessitated by the pandemic, while continuing to provide all their other services at the hospital.
This team is made up of 33 full time, part time, and temporary part time laboratory assistants, technologists, and senior technologists. The team works around the clock, seven days a week, and had to increase their staffing compliment during the pandemic in order manage the demand in service – which continues to this day. Like many other teams across the hospital, they are dedicated to their work and to one another, even in challenging times.
During the pandemic, the team was also successful in obtaining their Accreditation. This is a requirement every four years.
Photo caption: 2022 Dr. David Scott Award Winner, the Laboratory Team, Headwaters Health Care Centre
(Left to Right) Anmol, Karen, Colleen, Walid, Ruth, Wael, Stephanie, Janette, Carly and Janeane (middle)
