Our Priorities
In fiscal year 2015/16, LHSC faced the continued challenges in health care of ongoing funding pressure and increasing population health needs. To ensure that sustainable, high-quality care is available now and for generations to come, LHSC focused on making sweeping changes to the way we do things within our hospital and with our partners across the system of care.
To help accelerate the changes needed, LHSC focused on three corporate strategic objectives for fiscal 2015/16:
Achieve 95% average occupancy while maintaining or improving quality and safety
LHSC aimed to achieve an average of 95 per cent for the number of available beds occupied by patients throughout its hospitals, while at the same time maintaining or improving patient safety. Ensuring LHSC does not consistently use all of its available beds will improve the flow of patients throughout the hospital, allowing staff and physicians to focus on providing high-quality and compassionate care.
Our 95% occupancy goal was centred on the collective desire to deliver care in new, more effective ways that will help lead the transformation needed to put our hospital and the broader system of health on a focused and sustainable path, while improving experiences for patients as well as staff and physicians. The objective of this new integrated model of care is to significantly improve several key hospital performance metrics, including reduced time to see a physician upon arrival in the Emergency Departments (EDs), reduced wait times when admission from the EDs is required, and reduced length of stay in hospital as a result of stronger partnership efforts and improved processes around transitions to alternative levels of care or home with appropriate supports in place.
Improve shared accountability and staff and physician engagement
LHSC continues to transform its culture so that staff and physicians will enjoy a better work environment through increased engagement, empowerment and shared accountability. To that end, every area of the organization identified strategies and objectives that directly support our strategic priorities, along with anticipated outcomes for which they would be accountable to deliver. Additionally, LHSC introduced a number of new key performance indicators that will identify areas of greatest opportunity to make changes that accelerate progress toward our objectives, with all efforts tied to performance measurement.
Achieve financial sustainability
LHSC remains committed to ensuring its ability to maintain human capital and facilities, while providing safe, high-quality care in an era of constrained hospital funding and growing population health needs. Accomplishing our other two strategic goals – improved shared accountability and engagement and maintaining a 95% average occupancy – will in-turn establish the foundation needed for LHSC to realize financial sustainability.
