Since the founding of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (Toronto Rehab) back in 1998 – resulting from the amalgamation of the Toronto Rehabilitation Centre, Lyndhurst Hospital and the Rehabilitation Institute of Toronto (itself a voluntary merger of The Hillcrest and Queen Elizabeth Hospitals in 1997) – the hospital has come a long way in making a meaningful, lasting difference in the lives of Canadians recovering from disabling injury and illness (click here).     

Over 350 people gathered at Toronto Rehab’s six sites on Oct. 30 to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the founding of Toronto Rehab.

The combined efforts of enthusiastic and committed Toronto Rehab staff, physicians, researchers, volunteers and donors – supported by alliances with other healthcare providers, academic and corporate partners – have enabled the hospital to strengthen its three core lines of business: patient care, education and research.


Everything Humanly Possible
Over the past decade, Toronto Rehab has done Everything Humanly Possible to accomplish its vision of advancing rehabilitation and enhancing quality of life. It has helped literally tens of thousands of people deal with serious illness and injury, built a widely respected research enterprise, and made significant progress in sharing knowledge about rehabilitation science and practice with patients and their families, students and other healthcare professionals.

"After 10 years, we've built a very strong foundation upon which to continue pursuing our vision," says Mark Rochon, Toronto Rehab's President and CEO. "Advancing rehabilitation and enhancing quality of life is clearly a long-term goal. As our population grows and ages, the demand for rehabilitation will continue to increase. I'm extremely proud of our progress over the past decade, but in many respects, we've only really begun our journey. Click here to read one employee's reflections on the last 10 years.      

Thanks to our dedicated team
"A human service enterprise like ours relies so heavily on its employees and volunteers," says Mark. "We can't succeed unless our people share a common goal. I'd like to thank all members of the Toronto Rehab community – whether they've been with us since the beginning, or have just joined us recently – for their tremendous caring and compassion for our patients and for one another. I also wish to acknowledge and thank the Board of Directors of Toronto Rehab, chaired by David Bragg, for their wise counsel and contribution to our success."


SEATED (from left): Susan Armstrong, Ram Ramkumar, Connie Roveto, David Bragg, Mary Ann Curran, Kevin Young, John Shepherd. STANDING: Arthur James,
Dr. Ray Berry, Dr. Nora Cullen, Mark Rochon, Timothy Casgrain, Dean Connor, P. Bradley Limpert, Richard Abboud. NOT AVAILABLE FOR PHOTO: Richard Boxer, Diana Burke, Dr. Raphael Chow, Dianne Smith-Sanderson, Andrea Waines, Dr. Catharine Whiteside, Sandy Wise.


Highlights from a productive year
Fiscal year 2008/09 was a highly productive one for Toronto Rehab, yielding major gains across all priority areas of focus. The following is a list of highlights of the hospital's accomplishments (described in more detail later in this report):

• Implemented new models of patient care
• Explored and established innovative best practices
• Advanced its broad research agenda
• Effectively shared its growing body of rehabilitation knowledge with others
• Maximized the potential of its employees
• Broke ground on the much-anticipated, $200 million redevelopment of University Centre, which will be completed in 2011
• Launched an extensive interior renovations project to improve the patient experience at the E.W. Bickle Centre for Complex Continuing Care
• Made important technological advancements in digitally capturing and storing patient records to improve service and reduce costs 

Strategic plan execution produced results
Last year, the hospital completed the fourth year of its second, five-year strategic plan, which was collaboratively developed with internal and external stakeholders and approved by the Board of Directors back in January 2005. Click here to view a summary of Toronto Rehab's Strategic Plan. "One of the key reasons for our continued success is the way in which the entire Toronto Rehab community helps execute our very disciplined annual operating plan," explains Board Chair David Bragg. "This plan is an invaluable 'roadmap' in guiding us on our journey to excellence and helping us monitor our progress.


Last year's key accomplishments

From Mark and David's perspective, the hospital and its employees can be very proud of the organization's 2008/09 accomplishments across many fronts. "We are definitely seeing results as our clinical and research staff discovers more effective ways to improve the lives of people who have experienced life-altering disease or injury," David notes.

Says Mark: "I'm particularly excited about the mobility clinic that closely links research and clinical activities, the cardiac at home program and the work our Neuro Rehab team is doing with the City of Toronto's Parks, Forestry and Recreation department to provide community-based exercise for patients after discharge (the TIME program – Together in Movement & Exercise), our research in new technologies like artificial intelligence, lifting devices and the like, and the intensification of rehab."


Positive independent recognition

David adds that last year's very positive report from the independent International Scientific Advisory Committee as well as the renewal of the research grant from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC), confirms that Toronto Rehab is making a significant contribution to the advancement of rehabilitation research. 

"I'm also very pleased with the way we're reaching out to the community with the Living With/Living Well public education series and with our online performance report," says Mark. "Finally, our interprofessional education (IPE) program is successfully bringing together students from a wide range of disciplines to learn alongside their future healthcare peers."

Breaking ground on University Centre redevelopment
The entire Toronto Rehab community was thrilled when, on Dec. 8, 2008, ground was broken for the University Centre redevelopment (click here to view webcam view of construction site). This $200 million project involves the transformation of a more than 50-year-old acute-care facility into a state-of-the-art, accessible rehabilitation hospital that will also include iDAPT, one of the world's most advanced rehabilitation research facilities (click here for more information). The success to date of Toronto Rehab Foundation's $60 million capital campaign has been a great vote of confidence for the redevelopment project," David adds.      

Met all Ontario government performance obligations
On April 1, 2008 accountability agreements, that began four years ago with the MOHLTC, were delegated to the Ontario government's Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs). Toronto Rehab is required to meet very specific service-volume commitments and financial targets under its Hospital Service Accountability Agreement (HSAA), negotiated with the Toronto Central LHIN. "Last year was certainly challenging, but because of the teamwork exhibited every day by members of the Toronto Rehab community, we delivered on all of our service objectives and financial obligations," says Mark. Click here to view chart of Toronto Rehab's HSAA 2008/09 performance.



Relationships remain key
"We recognize the need to be fully engaged as the legislative and healthcare environment continues to evolve," says David, explaining that the Ontario government's Aging at Home Strategy, its Wait Time Strategy, and its focus on moving non-acute patients out of acute care beds all influence the hospital's planning and decision-making. "We believe that having strong relationships – whether with governments, other healthcare providers, or the Local Health Integration Network – is vital in helping to improve our healthcare system."


Looking ahead to 2009/10 and beyond

Mark and David agree that Toronto Rehab must continue to be flexible and efficient in its operations in order to meet the challenges of increasing demand for rehabilitation services to serve a growing and aging population, to respond to the funding pressures arising from uncertainties about government funding and the economy in general, and to accommodate the government's desire to enhance health system performance by quickly moving non-acute patients out of acute care beds. "The Toronto Rehab Foundation plays a vital role in helping us deal with the ever-present challenges of government funding, and we are very grateful for the generosity of its donors," David adds.

Collaboration across the system
"Our focus is on delivering the right care, in the right place, at the right time," Mark continues. "There are currently a number of patients inappropriately located in rehab and complex continuing care settings throughout the system. As resources become more strained, true system solutions derived from better relationships and collaboration between the various players will become even more critical in increasing the efficiency of the health system."

"As we enter the next decade of Toronto Rehab's journey, we can maximize our potential by looking further afield in leveraging our research and clinical research efforts with other healthcare providers, and taking our rehabilitation knowledge right out into the community," Mark says. These and other priorities are being considered by the Toronto Rehab community as the hospital finalizes its third strategic plan.

"Thanks to the dedication of our people and the high calibre of our clinical, research and educational endeavours, we are making tremendous progress in enhancing the lives of patients here at Toronto Rehab, but also having a positive influence on the advancement of rehabilitation science and practice further afield."