St. Mary’s General Hospital Introduces New Strategic Plan for 2021-2026: Inspiring Excellence. Healthier Together.

March 12, 2021 – St. Mary’s General Hospital is pleased to introduce a new Strategic Plan for 2021-2026: Inspiring Excellence. Healthier Together.

Guided by a new Vision, Mission and Values, this plan elevates St. Mary’s commitment to safe, high quality and compassionate care that is equitable and empowering for those it serves. Read about the plan here.

“This new roadmap represents a collective effort, in the midst of a pandemic, to chart a course for our future,” said Scott Smith, Chair of St. Mary’s Board of Trustees. “The next five years are full of opportunities and exciting times are ahead.”

Mr. Smith said St. Mary’s is grateful to so many in the community who contributed during the short 14-week planning period for the Strategic Plan. Consultation occurred across the community with patients, staff, physicians and many partner organizations who share a common goal to move healthcare forward.

“St. Mary’s is known for providing high quality, compassionate care and always striving to reach new heights,” said President Lee Fairclough. “This plan acknowledges the need for health care in this community to keep pace with growth and innovation in the community and region. It also addresses the need to plan for infrastructure and care needs of the future, aligned with the Region of Waterloo’s vision of planning for a world class community.”

“Our success in providing better connected, more equitable care for patients and families will depend on strong partnerships,” Ms. Fairclough added. “Working through this pandemic has strengthened many partnerships within and outside the health sector in our community and region. The plan incorporates the continued need to address the pandemic and envisions opportunities to extend those partnerships to other aspects of care.”

“We invite everyone to join with us at this pivotal time for health care in our region and for St. Mary’s,” she said.

About our Vision:

Inspiring Excellence – Striving for excellence has been our vision at St. Mary’s for many years. Inspiring excellence will mean we will also look to inspire others, our patients in their care, our team, and take it to another level.

Healthier Together – This conveys the ultimate goal for health care. Those in our care are healthier as a result, be it recovering from their illness, or supporting patients and families as they cope with poor health or end of life care. As a group of organizations in the community, we will collaborate to be healthier. As a team, we will support each other, including our mental health, so we are healthier together.

Some highlights and actions in the plan’s five priority areas include:

Priority 1 – Expand equitable access to high quality, empowered care:

• Increase the number of patients served, and spectrum of services available, through our regional Cardiac and Chest programs.
• Increase emphasis on ensuring our diverse community of patients and staff feel safe and have equitable access to care.

Priority 2 – Transform connected care with our partners and community:

• Continue to build on the partnerships we developed during the pandemic with the Ontario Health Team and other hospitals to ensure patients transition smoothly between care settings.
• Further integrate virtual care and new models for delivery of care with the community.

Priority 3 – Develop our team of today and the future

• Support our current teams in their learning and development.
• Increase the number of students who have an opportunity to learn at St. Mary’s across disciplines, including medical residents.

Priority 4 – Embrace new ways to innovate health care:

• Build on the collaboration established during the pandemic with the non-hospital sector.
• Develop an innovation collaborative with Communitech and local businesses, McMaster University, University of Waterloo and our hospital partners (Grand River and Cambridge Memorial).

Priority 5 – Build for growth:

• Enhance St. Mary’s equipment and infrastructure to meet short-term care needs.
• Continue a joint effort, currently in its beginning phase, between St. Mary’s and Grand River Hospital, to address the longer-term infrastructure needs of our hospitals through the master planning process.
• Fully utilize digital systems and information to improve quality of care.

Contact:

Anne Kelly
Manager, Communications
519-749-6578, ext. 1501
226-339-1903 (mobile)
akelly@smgh.ca