Gary Sims says management and staff need to make community partnerships more of a priority.

"It could be Community Care, Alzheimer’s Society – any number or combination of groups. But if we’re going to bring the Frost name into the community more than we do now, we have to be out there making those kinds of relationships," says Gary.

Now just over three months into the job as administrator in this 63-bed home, Gary says this week will mark the beginning of some strategic planning meetings with his staff and management to figure out just where Frost wants to position itself.

"We know we want to be the home of choice in our area," for instance, Gary says, "so if we want that within one year, what are we prepared to do in steps to get there and how will we know if we are?" he asks rhetorically. "These are the things we need to discuss."

He says the home needs to figure out if ‘home of choice’ means first pick at the local access centre or most well-known in the community or if some other standard should be used.

"There’s no doubt we have challenges," says Sims, with the home across the street getting an extension and a new home down the road being built. Competition is tight in this community of 20,000.

At Frost, the Tena disposable incontinence program is just underway, multidose has been underway for a few weeks and case mix index changes are coming from last year’s assessment.

"It’s all hands on deck right now, for sure," says Gary. "We have many new projects and have to manage these effectively. But we don’t want to lose sight of the bigger picture, either."

Gary says it is that bigger picture that will sustain a home, eventually.

"What we do know is that visions makes day-to-day work easier. So we need to create that vision and then work away at it," he says.