Company Report: North Simcoe Muskoka Community Care Access Centre
Healthcare through partnership The North Simcoe Muskoka CCAC works with 13 CCACs through Ontario Association of Community Care Access Centres to improve community health care.

North Simcoe Muskoka Community Care Access Centre

North Simcoe Muskoka Community Care Access Centre

North Simcoe Muskoka Community Care Access Centre

The North Simcoe Muskoka Community Care Access Centre (NSM CCAC) provides community health care to the 423,000 residents of the North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network (NSM LHIN). One of 14 CCACs across Ontario, NSM CCAC is funded through the NSM LHIN by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

With expenditures of approximately $70 million, NSM CCAC works to connect almost 11,300 active clients to the appropriate community and home care health services. “CCACs have a common brand: Trusted Quality Care Connector,” explains CEO Bill Innes.

“We cannot provide every service that every person needs, so we have a key role as navigator, connecting people to the right parts of the system.”

CHALLENGES
However, connecting residents to the appropriate care is not without its challenges. As the population ages, many health care professionals are retiring, however the ever-growing aging population demands more and more health care professionals. “It’s a human resources issue,” says Karen Taillefer, Senior Director of Client Services. “We are trying to recruit and maintain our workforce against the background of an aging population.”

In addition, the global downturn has impacted revenues in both the public and the private sector. “Providers are expecting to have budget challenges,” says Innes. “With the federal and provincial deficits, funding is not likely to keep pace with demand.”

Facing the dual challenges of a decreasing workforce and budget, the NSM CCAC has developed key strategies for maintaining and even improving health care. “The opportunity is to improve the systems and to provide the best quality care through better processes and working together,” states Innes.  

TEAMWORK
“We are all connected and we must all work together in an inclusive manner as cohesive teams if we are to truly provide the necessary quality health care services required by the residents of NSM LHIN throughout their lifetime,” says Innes.

The Centre is increasingly utilizing partnerships to offer more services while maintaining the budget. They partner with other CCACs to purchase computer hardware and telephones for a bulk price. “This is unusual in health care. No other complete health care sector gets together to purchase equipment,” says Innes.  In addition, NSM CCAC works with the 13 other CCACs to standardize services and software such as common financial/ statistical/human resource systems, standardized assessment instruments and to develop and implement the CHRIS system for managing patient information.

NSM CCAC also works very closely with the NSM LHIN. Together they are working to develop Lean Six Sigma green and black belts in their respective organizations and even share staff when a certain skill is needed.

By developing standard care processes with their Health Care Partners —Hospitals, Community Agencies, Long-Term Care Homes, Family Health Teams, Community Health Centres, and Public Health — NSM CCAC is streamlining those processes. For example, the health care agencies are working to implement standardized wound care through best practices based on research. This will improve patient care as well as reduce the patient’s length of stay and the number of patient visits while decreasing costs across the health system.  This is a win-win situation.

The health care partners are also improving patient care through communication. As the Ontario-mandated information and referral provider, NSM CCAC has partnered with 211 to provide an easy to use method for patients and healthcare professionals to access information and make referrals. The easy-to-remember 211 number allows anyone to access the database without confusion. “It’s another way we are partnering and focusing on residents,”
says Innes.

EMPLOYEES
NSM’s collaborative attitude not only extends to other health care agencies and the local community, but also exists within the NSM team. The Board is made up of nine members who were chosen based on their skills in specific areas such as health care, human resources, finance, and IT.

“We have an executive management team of six members, all of whom have skills in various areas, but they also bring a desire to work as a team,” says Innes.  The real strength of the organization comes as a result of everyone in the organization contributing as a team member with no one person being more important than the others.

This kind of team work is especially important considering the shortage of qualified staff. With this in mind, NSM CCAC does everything in its power to be “an employer of choice,” says Jan McGarry, Senior Director of Human Resources.  

Employing both non-unionized and unionized staff, NSM CCAC works very hard at maintaining good employee relations. Working closely with their IT team, they have deployed a home office program, allowing a significant portion of the workforce to work from home. Despite being very uncommon in the public sector, the program has proven a success, providing a huge quality of life improvement for employees. “We have about 50 staff who work from home now, and others take advantage of it from time to time,” adds McGarry.

Boasting strong relationships with employees and health care partners, NSM CCAC is prepared to handle the challenges of the community care market. They plan to continue to operate on budget while maintaining their focus on the client, providing outstanding care to every person, every day.

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