The Listowel and Wingham Hospitals Alliance was formed on July 1, 2003 as a partnership between the Listowel Memorial Hospital and the Wingham and District Hospital. Each hospital is a 50 bed acute care hospital located in south west Ontario and separated by a distance of 37 kilometres. The hospitals share a common management structure with one Chief Executive Officer. The Alliance agreement is based on a common set of principles and a commitment to partnership that guides all planning processes. A common mission, vision and values have been recently revised and approved (June 2004).

The Vision for the Listowel and Wingham Hospitals Alliance is:

Excellence in rural health care

The Mission statement is:

We provide patient and family focused care
We are meeting our communities’ growing and changing needs
We are committed to collaboration and partnership in all that we do
We are leaders in innovation

The following Values guide our activity:

Compassion, Respect, Openness and Honesty

The Outcome for our strategic plan is:

• To establish a system where individuals are responsible and accountable for themselves and each other in order to provide quality care for patients and their families

The Stratetic Directives for the hospitals are:

1. Quality Patient Care/Improvement
   
   The LWHA is committed to providing safe, effective and efficient care to patients and families through the variety of inpatient and ambulatory care program at each site.

• Safety, quality and risk management program
• Information technology plan
• Meeting national accreditation standards
• Health work environment
  
  

2. Patient and Family Focused Care
   
   The LWHA is committed to provide care that meets the needs of the people we serve.

• Patient satisfaction surveys quarterly
• Clinical Services plan for priority programs
• Communication plan for our community
  
  

3. Health Human Resource Plan
   
   The LWHA is committed to create an environment where people value working together.

• Right person at the right place at the right time
• Recruitment initiative for physicians and other professional staff
• Staff development and education
        

4. Partnership Collaboration and Integration
   
   The LWHA is committed to develop and improve system integration with our local and regional partners

• Local integration initiatives with community agencies to improve care
• Regional program involvement such as cancer care, emergency preparedness, diabetes education
• Ensure rural health care needs are met in the implementation of Local Health Integration Networks
  
  

5. Organizational Effectiveness
   
   The LWHA is committed to continue to be a leader in the development of strategies that lead to operational effectiveness

• Operational effectiveness through sound financial management
• Environmental plan for energy conservation
• Facility plan for the future
• Information Technology eHealth strategy
  
  

6. Governance Effectiveness
   
   The LWHA is committed to ensuring governance effectiveness

• Board skill base to function in a challenging environment
• Board education and development
• Board members as leaders in health care governance
  
  
  

Summary

This Strategic Plan provides the overall direction for the Listowel and Wingham Hospitals Alliance over the next 3 years. The plan will be monitored and assessed through a comprehensive operations work plan which details the goals, action plans, outcomes and indicators for each of the strategic directions. The Strategic Plan is further implemented through the various committee structures that have been designed to fulfill on the accountability for governance leadership and operations effectiveness. The Performance Management processes provide measures of outcomes and indicators that mark progress towards the defined goals.