Editorial
No room for silos in new health care system
February, 2007
Ontario’s changing the way it delivers health care and it’s time to embrace a collaborative spirit.

Whether one considers the development of Local Health Integration Networks or the deinstitutionalization of people with intellectual disabilities, what’s evident is the need for all of the different service providers to work together. It’s about creating a system that supports people with varying health care needs. As the demand for senior care increases, these changes are just the beginning.

OMNI can expand its role as a health care provider by continuing to step outside the walls of its respective homes. Administrators are already telling the OMNIway they see benefits of building networks, talking to other long-term care providers and taking an active role in their communities.

Kelly Burns, administrator of Riverview Manor in Peterborough, says meeting regularly with external health care colleagues and developing community partnerships helps build a shared knowledge base, track trends and benchmark statistics.

“They’re all intertwined,” says Burns about the health care system from acute care to long-term care. “It shows cohesiveness and a seamless approach to resident care.
She says as a result of the collaborative approach to, for instance, pain management and palliative care, “it’s becoming easier to talk home to home because we’re using the same tools and the knowledge is common.”

The administrator of Village Green is a member of the South East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) project team, the Chronic Disease Prevention Management leadership team and a LHIN lead for the Ontario Long-Term Care Association (OLTCA).

Linda Pierce is passionate about engaging in the LHIN process.

“I think this is the focus everyone has to take,” she says. “We have to move forward, to be actively involved. We have to be prepared to look at new opportunities and to help other stakeholders. It’s a very collaborative process, which I think is very good.”

The Province’s move to deinstitutionalize residents with intellectual disabilities is putting into the forefront the need for social service agencies and long-term care to work together.

Michael Rasenberg, administrator of Woodland Villa, a 111-bed long-term care home in Long Sault, says the nursing home is open to accepting residents with intellectual disabilities if the need arises. Woodland Villa has been home in the past, and continues to be home, to some residents with intellectual disabilities.

“Having a mix of different residents with physical and mental handicaps would be appropriate,” the administrator says.

OMNI has demonstrated an ability to raise the bar of what is possible through care and compassion, says Fraser Wilson, its CEO.

“With this change, the future looks bright and our people will continue to raise the bar in long-term care, internally and externally.”