Project Work Team to advise LHIN on services plan
Monday, June 12, 2006 -- Craig Anderson
A team made up of experts representing different sectors in the health care system has been built to help South East LHIN board members and senior staff implement the Integrated Health Services Plan, or IHSP.

The “Project Work Team” (or PWT) will participate in upcoming community sessions, which will be held in 24 different communities in the South East LHIN.

“They will help us work through all of the information and provide us with further outreach efforts,” says Paul Huras, CEO.

Members of the PWT were chosen for their expertise in different sectors, says Huras. Sectors represented include Community Support Associations, French Language Community, Addictions Centres, Community Health Centres, Mental Health Services, CCACs, Hospitals and Academia.

Three nominees were chosen for each sector, with appointments made by the LHIN board.

The board recently decided to choose only one appointee for long-term care, after originally opting to choose a representative from both for-profit and non-profit homes. The board chose Linda Pierce, administrator for Village Green. Village Green is operated by OMNI Health Care, a member of the OLTCA. But, despite their organizational affiliation, candidates are expected to speak as the voice of their whole sector.

Pierce, who is “thrilled to pieces” to have received the position, calls it an important learning process.

“We’ll get to discover what the issues are and how we can respond to them,” says Pierce, an administrator for 18 years at the Selby-based home.

Team members are also expected – with the exception of a mid-summer break – to offer one day a week of their time to the community engagement and IHSP process.

The PWT will also help board members and senior staff interpret quantitative and qualitative analyses gleaned from the sessions. The LHIN has also hired a consulting firm – Hay Group to help them as they produce the draft, expected in September.

The Hay Group will also facilitate meetings, allowing board members and staff to absorb information at community sessions. The LHIN eventually expects to hire a total of twenty staff members. They are currently working leanly, says Huras, with a group of four.

At the LHIN sessions, staff will be asking for input around four key areas: comments on successful current services, comments on any unmet needs and/or services, issues in access to services, and potential organization and delivery of service improvements that can be made.

The meetings will not be done in “town hall” fashion, says Huras, but will be more like an open house with staff sitting at different tables.

“They’ll be flexible – we want to get as much input from the public as we can,” he says.