Review leads to changes in Home & Community Care
Over the past few weeks, we talked to more than 50 staff, clients, and colleagues about what’s working well and what’s not, and where we can further build our existing strengths and address critical gaps. I’d like to thank those who have taken the time to participate in these discussions.
As a result of this work, and additional research from best practices in our field, we have implemented a number of structural and service changes.
Structural Changes
All units in Home and Community Care, except Program Administration, will report to Jennifer Kennedy. In her new role, Jennifer will support three units: Community Ambulatory Services, Home Services, and the Clinical Resource Team. Two clinical coordinator positions have been created—one for Community
Ambulatory Services and one for Home Services. Natalie Choy is the Interim Coordinator for Community Ambulatory Services and Karen Adamson is the Interim Coordinator for Home Services. We will post these new positions shortly.
As a result of these changes, the three management positions no longer exist. Jennifer is now Manager, Home and Community Care, and has assumed the overall management responsibility for our team—she will report directly to me. John Con has announced his retirement at the end of March, and will support special projects within VCH-Richmond until then. Cyndia Cole has left VCH-Richmond and will undertake project work at another site.
Service Improvements
In addition to these structural changes, a number of service improvements are in progress. We are:
- adding new clinical support positions to Palliative Services. This is a timely investment that directly responds to our clients’ needs. We’ve worked closely with Dr. Alexiadis and his team, and we’re excited to continue building our strength in the hospice / palliative area.
- improving existing processes that are risk intensive or high priority for our administration and clinical teams, such as invoice-reconciliation, medical equipment ordering, and charting.
In addition, we will continue to review our practices to support service improvements.
Please join me in supporting Jennifer, Karen, and Natalie as they take on these new leadership roles.