SAHStaff at the Sault Area Hospital are already practicing what is mentioned in the Excellent Care for All Act.  It’s provincial legislation that came into law more than five years ago — and is aimed at putting patients first by strengthening the health care sector’s organizational focus and accountability to deliver high quality patient care.  Patient Relations was one topic amended in the act.  One change involves patient relations, where Planning and Risk Management is responsible for improvements there.  A couple of add-ons are a receipt of concern being submitted within 5 days.  Information is tracked regarding the complainant, date and the topic of what the complaint was about.  An aggregate patient relations survey is also presented to a ‘quality’ committee twice a year.  A patient ombudsman was one of the changes mentioned.  The ombudsman would be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council.  He or she would then be housed within Health Quality Ontario — they are a group that receives the Quality Improvement Plans from the province’s hospitals.  It was also mentioned on Monday that policies related to the act would be reviewed by the end of the year — specificially, sometime in December.  Most of the changes did not have any big impact on Sault Area Hospital, with many of the exisiting characteristics of the act already being practiced.

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The newest members of the Sault Area Hospital board received an orientation on the hospital’s Strategic Plan on Monday night.  The current plan is in effect until 2020 and includes the hospital’s new mission statement, ‘Exceptional people working together to provide outstanding care in Algoma.’  Last night’s presentation also highlighted key themes of the plan, including outstanding care.  One variable of outstanding care is ‘senior friendly’ hospitals and health care.  One solution mentioned by Hospital Chief Executive Officer Ron Gagnon is changing the font sizes on signs to satisfy older adults who are at the hospital. Another variable is care closer to home.  SAH President and CEO Ron Gagnon says the hospital has achieved success related to care closer to home in the area of radiation therapy, and is currently working to do the same for cardiology and angioplasty patients.   Gagnon mentioned that the current plan is actually an overview of the next five years and this allows for a ‘greening’ or evolution into a new plan as focuses change year over year.  Gagnon also mentioned that the plan is aimed at transforming the hospital’s standpoint from that of a provider to one that is more patient and family-focused.