The hospital serves patients in seven areas: cardiac rehabilitation, geriatric rehabilitation, musculoskeletal rehabilitation (MSK), neuro rehabilitation, spinal cord rehabilitation (SCI), long-term care (LTC), and complex continuing care (CCC, for those patients with multiple, complex health conditions that require around-the-clock care).
Making rehabilitation real
"What we do goes beyond simply restoring physical function," says Dr. Gaétan Tardif, Toronto Rehab’s Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Medical Officer. "We pay close attention to how the rehabilitation impacts the patients and their families in everyday life situations. This not only makes patients happier and better able to participate when they’re back home in their community, it also lessens their future healthcare needs."
Karima Velji, Toronto Rehab’s Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Nursing Executive, notes that "during the rehabilitation process, our caregivers have the opportunity to interact with patients for an extended period of time. That’s why every member of the Toronto Rehab team goes ‘above and beyond’ to create the best possible experience for patients while they are in our care."
Rehabilitation’s future impact
It’s not widely understood, Gaétan adds, that rehabilitation interventions are very effective in reducing long-term illnesses and deaths. "What we do in patient care is a ‘win-win’ for patients and their families, and for the broader community and society as a whole."
"I’m very excited about the role Toronto Rehab is playing in integrating rehabilitation throughout the healthcare system," says Gaétan. "As the population ages, baby boomers like me will demand better rehabilitation to optimize their quality of life. Many of our clinical and educational programs are now national and international leaders in their field."
In the future, says Karima, "rehabilitation will begin as soon as a patient leaves a hospital emergency department – either through rehabilitation care delivered in the home or the community, or by being admitted to an inpatient unit. I’m very proud of how Toronto Rehab is advancing these new models of care."
Key successes in 2008/09
Naturally, maintaining the quality and safety of patient care at Toronto Rehab is the organization’s top priority. The hospital’s dedicated Patient Safety Program worked on an ongoing basis with both clinical and non-clinical services to formulate best practices that minimized the risk of unsafe acts and provided the safest possible care for Toronto Rehab patients.
Safety reporting and management
Toronto Rehab strongly supported the Ontario government’s priority to measure and report on the hospital’s performance (including our safety initiatives), and be compared with similar healthcare providers. In April 2009, the hospital introduced its online Performance Report (click here to view) to publicly communicate our track record in the areas of patient falls, medication errors, rates of hospital acquired infections and aggressive incidents, along with the action steps to minimize – and ultimately, eliminate – these patient safety concerns.
A range of collaborative activities
A prime example of successful collaboration was the transfer of rehabilitation resources from St. Joseph’s Health Centre in Toronto’s west end to Toronto Rehab’s MSK program at Hillcrest Centre. This complex project involved changing the model of care and the corresponding players involved at the two different hospitals. This transfer not only added value to the respective organizations’ healthcare delivery, but to the healthcare system as a whole.
Another integration success story was the continuing collaboration of the Neuro Rehabilitation Program at Toronto Rehab and Bloorview Kids Rehab on the LIFESpan initiative. This program hit its stride in 2008/09 with an additional $750,000 of base funding, further helping young people with cerebral palsy and childhood acquired brain injury to make the transition from paediatric to adult rehabilitation.
Within the hospital’s own walls, the Patient Care team worked very closely with Research to increase interactions between clinicians and researchers, thus helping speed the translation and transition of the latest rehabilitation insights from the lab bench to the bedside. The team also launched the first research acceleration clinic in patient balance, gait and mobility.Improving satisfaction results
The hard work of Toronto Rehab’s care teams paid off as its patient satisfaction ratings rose in complex continuing care, and nearly all facets of rehabilitation. The hospital is intently focused on delivering a first class patient experience and is unrelenting in its efforts to continuously improve its performance.
Performance highlights
Patient Safety
| Initiative | Performance Highlights |
|---|---|
| Infection control |
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| Hand hygiene |
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| Falls prevention and management |
 |
Satisfaction
| Initiative | Performance Highlights |
|---|---|
| Comprehensive CCC customer service plan |
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| Patient and family satisfaction in MSK |
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| Unit Support Volunteer Placement |
|
New Models of Care
| Initiative | Performance Highlights |
|---|---|
| Further implement LTLD service in complex continuing care |
|
| Increasing complex injury outpatient treatment services in Neuro Rehab and MSK |
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| Implement Phase II of the Neuro Rehab Outreach Project |
|
Service Integration
| Initiative | Performance Highlights |
|---|---|
| Improve patient flow from acute care to rehabilitation |
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| Implement an admissions and transition team in Spinal Cord Rehab |
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