Report on Catholic Health Care - Catholic Health Association of

Catholic Health Care in Ontario
We care for you
~ body, mind and spirit
A unique blend of care and caring
Contents
CHAOACS
Greetings from the CHAO ...... page 1
Featuring Dianne Moser & Ron Mar
Marrr
Caring and compassion ...... page 2
Featuring Pr
ovidence Care’s Comple
Providence
Complexx Continuing Care & St.
Mar
ak
Maryy’s of the LLak
akee Hospital in Kingston, with Jim Cuddy
Cuddy,, Debbie
Firth, Paul Cane, Le
xi Bulak, Rob Mer
rit & Maureen McGinn
Lexi
Merrit
Committed stewards ...... page 3
Featuring St. Joseph’s Health Centre in Guelph with Alanna Har
ris
Harris
& Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital in W
indsor
Windsor
indsor,, with Mar
Maryy Cunningham
Inclusive ...... page 4
Featuring St. Joseph’s Health Care, London,
with Julie Jeanson & 18 year
year--old Nora
Knowledge and innovation ...... page 5
Featuring Élisabeth Bruyère Resear
ch Institute & SaintVincent
Research
Saint-Vincent
Hospital in Ottawa, with Lucie Simon, Bocar Ndiaye & Mar
Maryy Egan
Partnership and collaboration ...... page 6
Featuring St. Joseph's Health Centre & St. Michael's Hospital
in T
or
onto, with KKevin
Tor
oronto,
Biscaro
evin Mundier & Silvana Biscar
o
Trusted ...... page 7
Featuring St. Joseph’s Healthcare Mature W
omen
’s Health Pr
ogram
Women
omen’s
Program
in Hamilton, with Mar
Maryy MacDougall & Dr
Dr.. Amie Cullimore
International Outreach ...... page 8
Featuring the Sisters of St. Joseph of Hamilton, St. Joseph’s Health
System in Hamilton, St. Mar
Maryy’s General Hospital in Kitchener
Kitchener,,
Hotel Dieu Hospital in Kingston
& Kingston
’s Pr
ovidence Care, with Dr
ee
Kingston’s
Providence
Dr.. Joy W
Wee
Vision statement ...... page 9
Welcome to our readers
Catholic health care providers have a meaningful and foundational past, an essential and integral current-day
involvement, and an exciting, promising future as partners in the Ontario health care system. Inspired by Christ’s
healing ministry, we value the trust our residents, patients, and clients bestow upon us on a daily basis: to care
for them body, mind, and spirit.
Our health care ministry is characterized by diversity, depth, breadth, and innovation. Catholic health care
providers are involved in a full spectrum of health care programming: mental health and addictions; counselling
for sexual abuse; long- term, continuing complex, rehab, acute, and community-based care. Our members
respect and support efforts to improve continuity of care, enhanced quality, and the responsible stewardship of
public funds. Individually and as a system, we engage in productive partnerships between and amongst the
Province’s health care providers to develop more effective and efficient systems of care for the citizens of
Ontario. And we continually “push the envelope” to discover better ways to provide high quality health care,
all forms of health care education, and invaluable and meaningful research.
Recently, the Catholic Health Association of Ontario undertook a brand articulation study that asked both internal
stakeholders and external partners to identify the values that best characterize Catholic health care. Our Report
features stories that represent seven touchstones of Catholic health care in Ontario: compassion, stewardship,
inclusivity, knowledge and innovation, partnership and collaboration, trust, along with examples of international
outreach programs by CHAO members.
It is our pleasure to invite you to read the Report on Catholic Health Care in Ontario.
Yours sincerely,
Dianne Moser, Chair
Catholic Health Association of Ontario (CHAO)
8392– the number of
beds operated by
Ontario’s Catholic health
care pr
oviders
providers
8392
Ron Marr, President
Our numbers in 2009
27,858
27,858 – the number
of staff working in
Catholic facilities in
Ontario
$2.8B – the total
200
9
revenues of Ontario’s
Catholic health care
pr
oviders
providers
$2.8B
Immeasurable – the number of lives touched by Ontario’s Catholic health care ministr
ministryy
Catholic Health Care in Ontario
1
Compassion
The Dreamer
Giver
Dreamer,, the CareCare-Giver
Giver,,
and the Bik
er
Biker
Jim Cuddy dreamed of riding
a motorcycle again. But for
Jim, a complex-continuingcare patient at Providence
Care’s St. Mary’s of the Lake
Hospital in Kingston, that
dream was no more than
that – just a dream –
because Jim has minimal
movement in his arms and
legs. For him the seemingly
simple act of mounting a
bike was not a realistic
possibility.
But for Providence Care
nurse Debbie Firth, helping
Jim realize his dream became
Jim Cuddy and Paul “Trapper” Cane leading the pack
a matter of mission. Refusing
to be stymied by the obstacles that had immobilized Jim, Debbie called her friend Paul “Trapper” Cane, a
co-founder of the Canadian Army Veterans’ Motorcycle Unit.
Trapper identified with Jim’s plight immediately since Trapper himself had been the victim of a serious accident,
the recipient of injuries that had left him unable to return to military service. And Trapper, too, was once a
patient at St. Mary’s. He has grateful recollections of the care he received there and speaks warmly of the
hospital’s staff. So, he saw Jim’s story as an opportunity to show his gratitude while assisting a kindred spirit.
Embracing the prospect of playing their role as dream-makers, Trapper, Debbie, and a number of St. Mary’s staff,
including occupational therapist Lexi Bulak, orthotist Rob Merrit, and other members of Jim’s care team
developed a plan of action. Working together they adapted a sidecar to fit Trapper’s motorcycle so that Jim could
ride safely and comfortably with him: Trapper called his friends at the Canadian Army Veteran’s Motorcycle Unit
and together they put the rubber to the road.
On June 18th, 2008 with Jim and Trapper leading the pack, followed by 18 members of the CAV Motorcycle Unit
and accompanied by several other well wishers, the entourage left St. Mary’s for the ride of a lifetime.
“Just like everybody else, our patients have their own goals and aspirations,” observed Maureen McGinn,
manager for Providence Care’s Complex Continuing Care program. “Part of providing patient-centered care is
enabling each of our patients the real opportunity to fulfill those goals and aspirations.”
It’s a compassionate response that enables the disabled to live their dreams.
2
We care for you ~ body, mind and spirit
Stewar
dship
Stewardship
Life-saving and Life-restoring
Resour
cefulness
Resourcefulness
The Rehabilitation Motion Garden at St. Joseph’s
Health Centre in Guelph is an imaginative example of
natural and human stewardship. The Garden will
liberate patients from indoor gymnastic-like facilities
into more natural settings.
Activities in the garden can produce results similar to
the technologically standardized in-door ones: filling a
bird feeder, lifting flower pots, raking leaves, cultivating
soil can all improve strength, balance, and resilience.
Not only will the Garden augment repetitive in-door
exercises with psychologically relaxing out-door ones,
it will provide a natural transition from health centre to
home base. “Patients will be able to practice walking on
uneven surfaces, negotiate ramps and stairs, navigate
curbs,” says physiotherapist Alanna Harris. “These can
be barriers to people when they return home and can
keep them from doing the things that give their life
meaning.”
Recognizing that rehab requires a personalized
program, a battery of nurses, physicians, and various
hospital personnel will collaborate to adapt the garden
to the individual patient’s needs. Plans even include a
putting green and a structure to simulate movements
necessary to access an automobile.
Mary Cunningham and Dr. Eli Malus
“Rehabilitation patients are returning to their community,”
says Harris. “Ideally, they also want to return to the people
they were.” St. Joseph’s garden: an effective stewardship
of resources, both human and natural.
Stewarding at Windsor’s Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital
is also a matter of teamwork. The hospital’s Critical
Care Outreach Team is a highly effective rapid-response
unit coordinating 8 physicians and 20 registered nurses
specially trained to provide essential services on
demand for critically ill in-patients and 48-hour followup care for post-release ICU patients.
Mary Cunningham, Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
and co-author of the program, explains that “When
the team is called, we spend as much time as the
patient needs to either give fluids or to transfer the
patient to ICU. Over the past year, we have admitted
about 10 patients a month to ICU, either for more
intensive monitoring or lifesaving interventions like
mechanical ventilation.”
The Team also provides on-the-spot education, has
been instrumental in formulating a new
communication tool, and has heightened awareness
of End-of-Life issues.
Sound stewardship, sound health care.
Catholic Health Care in Ontario
3
Inclusive
Reaching out to our
Mentally-iIl YYouth
outh
Catholic Health Care is by nature inclusive. It serves not only those with physical ailments, but it also reaches out
to individuals plagued by mental problems and the ravages of depression.
So, at St. Joseph’s Health Care, London, the outreach team – registered nurses from the Adolescent Program at
Regional Mental Health Care – has recently implemented a new approach to therapy designed to meet the needs
of adolescents between the ages of 15 to 18 who are struggling with chronic depression, who have developed
patterns of self-inflicted injuries, and who exhibit inclinations toward suicidal behaviour.
Outreach team member Julie Jeanson explains that “The 12-week intensive treatment program invites youth to
shape ‘a life worth living.’ We help them to cope with confusion about themselves, impulsive behaviour,
emotional instability, and interpersonal problems.” Groups meet at Regional Mental Health Care and individual
sessions are held within the community at a setting of the individual’s choice.
Eighteen year-old “Nora” (a pseudonym at the patient’s request) is an active participant in the program and is
achieving promising results. Nora notes that “Before I was referred to the outreach team, I was in and out of
hospital for depression and addiction. I was in a destructive cycle. But even when I would lose touch with Julie for
awhile, she was always there for me no matter what. She always cared, even when I felt like no one did.”
“I feel better about things now than I’ve ever felt in my life. I have goals now. I have a job. I’m clean. I’m doing
well in school. And I’m 100% sure I’ll never go down that road again.”
The outreach team expects to see significant improvement in the recovery of clients like Nora and anticipates that
benefits will be reflected across the health care system. Julie explains that “This population has been historically
difficult to treat because of their frequent emergency room visits and hospitalizations. And they often exhaust
current resources in the receiving of effective treatment. So, we are helping our clients, but we are also meeting
the needs of our community and partners in mental health care for youth.”
I’m 100% sure I’ll
never go down that
road again.
4
We care for you ~ body, mind and spirit
Knowledge and Innovation
New T
echnology
Technology
Creates New PPossibilities
ossibilities
Lucie Simon’s computer is a cherished daily companion. It is an essential extension of her hospitalized body,
providing otherwise unachievable opportunities. She uses it for basic research, banking and volunteer work, even
communication with her children and friends. Lucie is a quadriplegic whose fingers are completely paralyzed and
who has limited use of her arms.
This same disability that renders her
so computer-dependent also makes
it difficult for her to manoeuvre a
mouse. And to type she utilizes a
rubber-tipped wooden stick.
The innovative Nouse, or “nose as
mouse”, is a potential solution.
Owned by Ottawa-based IVIM Inc.,
the Nouse is being researched at the
Élisabeth Bruyère Research Institute
and tested on patients at
Saint-Vincent Hospital, a complex
continuing care facility that is a
component of Bruyère Continuing
Care. The Nouse has currently
completed its second phase of
testing, involving a dozen patients,
including Lucie, using technology made available by IVIM Inc., technology also available to the general public for
free testing. (http://www.ivim.ca/technology).
A webcam mounted on the computer detects the user’s nose; then, simple head movements up-and-down or
side-to-side activate various computer functions, including typing alphabetical characters. “I am excited because
with the Nouse I will be able to type much faster,” Lucie explains. “It’s much closer to the way I used to use the
computer.”
Bocar Ndiaye, Assistive Technologist at Saint-Vincent Hospital and co-principal investigator, notes: “For people
who cannot use a regular keyboard or a mouse, it will make a tremendous difference in their daily life.” Ndiaye
adds that currently-marketed alternatives are often quite expensive and have fewer features than the Nouse which
IVIM Inc. plans to offer at “an affordable price.”
Under the professional eye of co-principal investigator, University of Ottawa Professor Mary Egan, university
students are collecting the data and are evaluating the user acceptance of Nouse technology, determining its key
advantages over alternative marketed technologies, identifying most suitable users, assisting in the customizing of
the product for different individuals, and recommending pre-market alterations.
Lucie has already concluded that the Nouse “will open the world” for those living with the isolation that
disabilities can impose.
Catholic Health Care in Ontario
5
Partnership and Collaboration
Kevin Mundier, a 37-year-old
tow-truck driver, was chatting
with a friend between calls when
their conversation was
interrupted by a bout of severe
chest pains. A STEMI heart
attack. Every second matters.
The longer the heart muscle goes
without oxygen, the more
damage it encounters, and
extensive damage can be fatal.
"You must unblock a STEMI
heart attack within 90 minutes to
avoid irreversible heart damage,"
explained Silvana Biscaro,
Administrative Director of
Emergency, Critical Care and
Access at St. Joseph's Health Centre.
Mundier survived his ordeal thanks to the Toronto Heart
Attack Collaborative, an innovative program in which
St. Joseph's Health Centre, Toronto, is a participant.
The Collaborative sent Mundier directly to St. Michael's
Hospital even though his incident occurred within St.
Joseph's catchment area: St. Michael’s is fully equipped
to treat a STEMI and is included in the Toronto Heart
Attack Collaborative, a partnership embracing the
hospitals within the Toronto Central Local Health
Integration Network, Toronto EMS, and the Ontario
Ministr y of Health and Long-Term Care. The
St. Joseph's Health Centre
and St. Michael's Hospital
in T
or
onto formed a
Tor
oronto
partnership – collaborating
to save lives.
6
Working T
ogether
Together
on the Heart Beat
Collaborative was formed to ensure that STEMI patients
receive the care they need, when they need it, as
expeditiously as possible.
To realize this advanced-level cardiac care the
Collaborative’s paramedics are trained to test for
STEMIs by taking a 12-lead ECG right in the ambulance
itself rather than waiting for the patient’s delivery to a
hospital. As a result, once a STEMI has been detected,
the ambulance can bypass St. Joseph's Hospital and
head directly to St. Michael's for a life-saving
angioplasty.
A patient who is taken to St. Joseph's Health Centre,
Biscaro explained, "doesn't have to get off the stretcher.
We'll give that patient an ECG on the spot and if need
be we’ll ship the individual off to St. Michael's.” But
treatment doesn’t stop there. "Every patient who is
treated at St. Michael's returns to St. Joseph's to see a
cardiologist.” It's this spirit of collaboration that makes
the program so encouraging for the roughly 1,200
STEMI patients in the Greater Toronto Area every year.
"I know it works. It saved my life," says an appreciative
Mundier.
We care for you ~ body, mind and spirit
Building T
rust and Breaking
Trust
Bar
riers for Immigrant W
omen
Barriers
Women
Trusted
“Although Hamilton has one of the largest immigrant populations in Ontario, until recently self referrals for ‘Well
Woman Care’ by the community’s immigrant women were almost non-existent,” Mary MacDougall, Clinical
Nurse Specialist, points out.
Yet the essential services have been readily available through St. Joseph’s Healthcare Mature Women’s Health
Program, a multi-disciplinary initiative providing gynaecology, mental health, and “Well Woman Care” services to
peri- and post-menopausal women in the Hamilton community, centering on a comprehensive health and lifestyle
assessment, health promotion education, and a pap smear and pelvic examination.
To address the concern, Mary, together with Dr. Amie Cullimore, the Program’s Medical Director, introduced a
study within the local immigrant community to examine the health status, health beliefs, and health concerns of
immigrant women in order to determine the reasons for non-participation in the self-referral services.
Those interviewed confirmed pre-existing research results. Obstacles cited included language barriers,
transportation difficulties, limited knowledge of available services, a lack of understanding of the importance of
screening, and sensitivities concerning cultural differences.
Seeking to break the barriers, Mary established a working relationship with Women's Health Educators: peer
educators hired and trained by the Hamilton Public Health Department to teach women from their own
immigrant communities the importance of maintaining good health. A series of information sessions on breast
and cervical cancer screening was held within the community, reaching out to women from various ethnic
backgrounds. The sessions were hugely successful. Participants requested follow-up appointments and Mary now
blocks specific time slots to encourage women to attend “Well Woman Care” appointments on site and even to
bring others from their own communities. Women’s Health Educators assists in facilitating these appointments,
translating, and arranging
transportation.
Women from Chinese, Vietnamese,
Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, and Arabicspeaking communities in Hamilton
now attend the clinic, saying that it is
easily accessible, its environment is
welcoming, and their cultural beliefs
and practices are being respected.
Delighted with the response, Mary
notes that “Since this initiative began
in 2004, there has been a 147%
increase of self referrals by immigrant
women, with a 240% projected
increase by 2009.”
Building trust also builds
relationships.
Lisa Wang, Kimmy Hoang and Sana Khairo with Mary Macdougall
Catholic Health Care in Ontario
7
International Outreach
Reaching out to
those Most in Need
requests to expand its commitment to that beleaguered
country. And in 2008 a team of cardiology specialists
from St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener
journeyed to Sudan to help health care professionals
in that country improve cardiac care for Sudanese
patients and to plan for additional on-going training
of Sudanese physicians at St. Mary’s.
Similarly, St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton, a
teaching hospital affiliated with McMaster University’s
DeGroote School of Medicine, has been training
Ugandan medical residents in Hamilton and sending
teams of its personnel to Uganda to help develop the
expertise of that country’s medical professionals.
Just as Christ reached out with a consoling touch to
heal the leper and introduced the Samaritan woman
to life-giving waters, so Catholic health care is inclusive,
reaching out to those in need no matter their race,
religion, or country of origin.
It follows that many of Ontario’s Catholic health care
providers are actively engaged in international outreach
programs. Physicians, staff, and others volunteer their
time and professional talents to gather and transport
much-needed supplies and equipment to countries that
are in desperate need of our “outmoded” medical
provisions. These volunteers also visit underprivileged
countries, care for the countries’ patients, and share
current medical techniques with the recipient
countries’ medical communities.
In Kingston, Ontario, Hotel Dieu Hospital, founded
by the Hospitallers of St. Joseph, has twinned with St.
Joseph’s Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, providing
supplies and expertise; and Dr. Joy Wee, a member of
the medical staff at Kingston’s Providence Care, has
travelled to Nepal on several occasions to help develop
sustainable rehabilitative care such as low-cost
wheelchairs suitable for Nepal’s unpaved roads.
Catholic health care providers — reaching out to offer
a healing hand.
Inspired by their congregation’s founding principles
and funded in large part by the Sisters of St. Joseph in
Hamilton, St. Joseph’s Health System, Hamilton, and
its six health care members have been actively involved
in international outreach since 1986, helping patients
and practitioners in countries like Haiti, Uganda,
Russia, Yemen, Romania, Dominica, and Sudan.
St. Joseph’s Health System, for example, has been
assisting Haitians for some time and is exploring
8
We care for you ~ body, mind and spirit
Catholic Health Care in Ontario
We care for you — body, mind and spirit
A Unique Blend of Care and Caring
Catholic health care delivers a unique blend of care and caring centered on the whole
person — body, mind and spirit. We are dedicated to enriching the care experience for
all those we serve, as we live out the values of compassion, dignity and respect —
inspired by the healing ministry of Jesus. Drawing on the strength of our culture and our
dedication to be a voice for our communities, inclusive of all those in need, we remain
committed to building vibrant collaborative partnerships in the advancement of innovative, quality and effective health care.
CHAOACS
Catholic Health Association of Ontario
Association Catholique de la Santé de l’ Ontario
Sponsor - Catholic Health Corporation of Ontario • Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene • Pembroke Regional Hospital • St. Joseph's Care Group - Thunder Bay
• St. Joseph's General Hospital Elliot Lake • St. Joseph's Health Centre /Centre de Santé de St. Joseph Sudbury • St. Joseph's Villa /Villa St-Joseph Sudbury
• Providence Healthcare • St. Joseph's Health Centre, Toronto • St. Michael's Hospital Toronto • Soins Continus Bruyère/Bruyère Continuing Care Ottawa
• St. Patrick’s Home of Ottawa Inc. • Marianhill Inc. Pembroke • Hôpital Mattawa Hospital • Providence Care ~ Sponsor - Catholic Health Partners (Religious
Hospitallers of St. Joseph) • St. Joseph's Continuing Care Centre Cornwall • Hotel Dieu Hospital Kingston • Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre St.
Catharines • Hotel Dieu-Grace Hospital Windsor ~ Sponsor - St. Joseph’s Health System • St. Joseph's Health Centre Guelph • St. Mary's General Hospital Kitchener
• St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton • St. Joseph's Villa Dundas • St. Joseph’s Lifecare Centre Brantford • St. Joseph 's Home Care ~ Sponsor - St. Joseph’s Health Care
Society • St. Joseph’s Health Care London • St. Joseph's Health Services Association of Chatham Inc • St. Joseph’s Hospice Sarnia ~ Sponsor - Missionary Sisters of the
Precious Blood • Mariann Nursing Home Richmond Hill Sponsor - Fontbonne Health Care Society
• St. Joseph’s at Fleming Peterborough ~ Other Active Members • Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops Associate Members • Sisters of Charity of Ottawa
• Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto • Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie • Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul Kingston • Sisters of St. Joseph of Pembroke
• Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception • St. Elizabeth Health Care Toronto • Copernicus Lodge Toronto • St. Joseph's Infirmary Toronto
• Catholic Women’s League Ontario Provincial Council • Catholic Family Services Hamilton
Les soins de santé catholiques en Ontario
On prend soin de vous — cœur, corps et esprit
Un composé unique de soins et de compassion.
Le secteur catholique des soins de santé allie de façon unique les soins à la compassion
pour toute la personne – cœur, corps et esprit. Inspirés par le ministère de guérison de
Jésus, nous nous consacrons à enrichir l’expérience de soins pour toutes les personnes
que nous desservons, par notre façon de vivre les valeurs de compassion, de dignité et de
respect. Guidés par la force de notre culture chrétienne et par notre engagement à agir
comme porte-parole de nos collectivités, y compris des plus démunis, nous cherchons à
établir des parternariats vivants pour faire progresser des soins de santé novateurs,
efficaces et de grande qualité.
Back cover photos: Courtesy of the archives of St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto & St. Joseph’s Hospital, London
Pursuing a foundational raison d’être centered on
the care of those in need and inspired by the
desire to live their lives in imitation of Christ’s
healing ministr
ministryy, Roman Catholic religious women
began their health care ministr
ministryy in Ontario over
160 years ago, treating the poor and disadvantaged. Over the years, Catholic health care
pr
oviders have played an integral rrole
ole in
providers
advancing the health care of Ontarians at all
stages of life. They were, for eexample,
xample, amongst
the first to offer str
ong support for the
strong
principles underlying Medicare, principles that
have shaped the evolution and advancement of
health care in modern Canada.
Today
ovision of Catholic
provision
oday,, the governance and pr
health care has, for the most part, been passed
on fr
om religious women to their lay collabfrom
orators of all faiths. So, too, has the spirit of
compassion and the inspiration to care for those
most mar
ginalized in our society
marginalized
society,, a spirit that
characterized and motivated these intrepid
pioneers — our founders.