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EmailMessage from the President & CEO, January 2008
As many of you will have read in our newsletter, Baycrest Matters, in mid-December we announced a new organizational structure for Baycrest. The new model responds to the feedback staff, families and clients provided as part of our self-reflection process over the past five months. Consistently when I met with groups either formally or informally, the message was that we need to take down silos and create a structure that promotes a strong interdisciplinary approach; expedites decision making and problem solving; and ensures we use data to make decisions and set directions.
Our new model is also a clear statement that the feedback we received is being put to use. Families, clients and staff were very clear with me over the past several months that that our review process needed to be used to drive change that will take us to the next level of excellence. Well, our new model is significant and an important change for Baycrest. That is why is we are currently working through all the details and timing for the implementation.
What is important is that everyone—staff, families and clients-- has a good understanding of the new model, the rationale for the change including how the characteristics of the new structure relate to the themes you talked about as being priorities to address. Here are the highlights:
Need to remove the silos that have made communication, collaboration and effective decision making a challenge.
The first thing you should know about our new structure is that it is a Program Management model tailored specifically for Baycrest. It is actually a reflection of what exists in pockets, but is not systematically in place across our organization. The structure is clearly designed to help move us from multi-disciplinary to interdisciplinary by bringing together the various disciplines as teams within the programs of: Home (LTC); Hospital; and Clinics/Day Programs. Each of these teams will be led by a Program Director and Medical Director who will work together to drive performance in their programs. While previously our senior responsibility for clinical areas was spread among a few VPs, with our new model it will reside with one VP--the VP Clinical and Residential Programs.
Support our firmly held professional identities and resulting evidenced-based practices
Our professional identities and the strengths it brings to our services is something we want to not just preserve but in fact nourish. That is why in our new model each of our clinical-related professions will have a Professional Practice Leader responsible for ensuring we are engaging in the appropriate scope of practice and are employing the very best professional practices from an evidenced based perspective. Importantly, these leaders will optimize the contribution of their specific disciplines to all missions of Baycrest including care, research and education.
We also know it is critical to evaluate our clinical performance on a continuous basis and use that information to drive improvements. As such we have created a position of Director, Continuous Quality Improvement, Risk & Patient Safety.
Better use of data we collect to inform our decision making.
You told me during the Listing Tours that we needed to make better use of the data we collect in order to inform our decisions and drive our performance to the next level of excellence. As such we will be creating a Director, Decision Support—a function that is critical in high achieving organizations. We will also be bringing Health Records and Information Management teams together under a Director, Health Information Management and aligning them to support our business objectives in the portfolio of VP Corporate Services and CFO.
Respect and nourish our faith based connection and values as important strengths in improving the quality of life of the people we serve.
Our bio-psycho-social approach is crucial given that we are caring for an elderly population with complex, chronic conditions. We know that we must do much more than simply treat a person’s disease—we must bring the highest possible meaning to each individual’s life. Our Art, Museum, Music, Arts and Crafts Program, and Culture and Heritage programming as well as Holocaust Resource program play important roles in our ability to improve the quality of life of our clients and support us in providing culturally sensitive care and service. Our new organizational structure brings these areas together in a formal way under the leadership of a Director, Culture and Heritage. Together, these programs not only significantly impact our client centred approach to care—but they are important defining characteristics of Baycrest that must be nourished as one of our important strengths.
These are just some of the highlights of our new model. I have attached the PowerPoint presentation that was used in the Town Halls for staff including the overall structure which provides you with much more detail.
I have often compared Baycrest and its mission to a ballet where each performer is dancing in sync with others, ultimately resulting in a beautiful performance supported in large part by many talented people working tirelessly behind the scenes. What we have done through the design of a new organizational structure is to revise our choreography, based on our self-reflection, to help us perform even more flawlessly and in sync. Continuously looking in the mirror and making these types of adjustments—big and small—is what gives great organizations, such as ours, the ability to be the best in the world.
Bill Reichman
Baycrest President and CEO