Edition 129 - February 2013 - Interior Health

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At Interior Health, we want to set new standards of excellence in the delivery of health services in B.C. and to also promote healthy lifestyles and provide needed health services in a timely, caring, and efficient manner. To achieve this, we are guided by the following strategic goals: Goal 1 Improve Health and Wellness Goal 2 Deliver High Quality Care Goal 3 Ensure Sustainable Health Care by Improving Innovation, Productivity, and Efficiency Goal 4 Cultivate an Engaged Workforce and Healthy Workplace The articles featured in the @IH newsletter are great examples of how we’re achieving our goals … and realizing our vision and mission. Read on! Dr. Halpenny finds some work-life balance on the mountain – “a fantastic day” at Big White Ski Resort on January 20. M y message this month starts on a very sad note. We lost Janice Buller, one of our dedicated Home Health nurses from Lillooet, following a tragic accident on January 17. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family and especially to the young son she has left behind, as well as the many staff members in Lillooet she worked so closely with every day. Looking back over the last few weeks, it is clear we hit the ground running after our Christmas break. As you know, there is never a shortage of projects to tackle when it comes to making improvements in health care. One that I am particularly excited about is focused on our research efforts and how we take a more involved and coordinated approach within IH. With that in mind, we’re in the midst of an environmental scan of research initiatives underway and how they align with one another. This preliminary work is a first step in developing a research strategy for the organization. On January 18, I was in Vancouver for Leadership Council with my health authority CEO peers. This is a monthly meeting, chaired by the Deputy Minister of Health, that also includes senior executives from the Ministry of Health. It provides a forum for discussing provincial initiatives, approving policy, and addressing common issues. This month, we had an opportunity to review the draft Public Health Plan for B.C. which is a guiding document to help us identify and set new priorities, make strategic investments, and increase focus in areas that contribute to a strong, effective public health system. On a related note, we also discussed the next phases of Panorama, the new public health clinical information system for B.C. Panorama provides the tools to collect, share, and analyze a wide range of health information critical for managing population health issues and communicable diseases. The first module, Inventory Management of Vaccines, was introduced in 2010. The next two phases will be implemented beginning in May/ June 2013 and include Immunizations and Family Health (Phase I) followed by Case and Outbreak Management (Phase II). After Leadership Council, I was back in Kelowna for our monthly Senior Executive Team (SET) meeting. We are fortunate to often have presentations from some of our community partners on the agenda. At this meeting, representatives from the Red Cross joined us to provide an impressive overview of their services. It was a good opportunity to consider how we might enhance our partnership going forward. During the meeting, we also discussed our response to some of the most significant issues we have been managing of late. These include Summerland Seniors Village and Crossroads Treatment Centre in Kelowna which have had widespread media coverage. Both are challenging situations and our staff and senior leaders are working diligently to take appropriate action and find solutions that are in the best interests of our patients and clients. January ended with a team-building session for SET. This is an important part of our action plan for engagement because it is helping us find ways to work together more effectively, and to recognize and value the strengths each of us brings to the table. I hope you are making similar progress in your own teams as you work through your action plans. In closing, I would like to say how pleased and proud I am that Interior Health has been selected as one of BC’s Top Employers for 2013. We are always striving to engage and support our employees, in everything from career opportunities to comprehensive compensation and benefits plans, and we make this a priority because it helps build a more positive work environment over the long-term. I think you all deserve a pat on the back!
your opinions count @ What’s your plan for a positive workplace in 2013 In keeping with our commitment to make engagement part of our every day, each month we are posing a new topic for discussion that’s linked to the 12 Gallup engagement questions. Your Opinions Count @ IH is a way to keep engagement top of mind, and to let us know what it means to you. Here are a few excerpts from what we heard in response to January’s topic: “… Our Surgical Bookings office has started a ‘Gratitude Jar’, in which you start the year with an empty jar and fill it with notes about good things that have happened at work and/or in your personal life over the year…” “During challenging changes I am keeping upbeat, telling my co-workers that I believe the change will be great and that they CAN do it!” “Two workgroups have undertaken a friendly 18 week weight loss competition. Our goal for 2013 is more health, less stress!” “I am and have started singing while I work. It seems to make the patients happy and makes me happy and makes my job go by faster and nicer…” “… Maintain a happy positive attitude when I walk through the doors to come to work. BE PLEASANT to all the staff I encounter …” Visit the Engagement web page on the InsideNet to view the complete list of responses. All other discussion topics and responses are also available to view since Your Opinions Count @ IH started in January 2012. The February topic for discussion is… What does “quality” mean to you Feel free to share examples! Please send your feedback to YourOpinionsCount@interiorhealth.ca and we’ll share excerpts in the next @IH, along with a new topic for discussion.
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Edition 129 - February 2013 - Interior Health

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