Outlook 2020

About Us

Home > About Us > Outlook 2020

What is Outlook 2020?

Outlook 2020 is about building a better future for LDMH and the community; it is the strategic vision for LDMH for the next 10 years. The hospital is going to stay open and remain an acute care hospital; however, in order to sustain a 24/7 Emergency Department we have to restructure other services and programs. The goal of the new Strategic Plan – Outlook 2020 – is to have as little impact on accessibility by our community to essential health care needs as possible but maximum impact on the bottom line. Going forward we must make the best use of our valuable resources – people, financial, technology and equipment.

How did we get here?

Throughout the last 18 months the Board and Administration have been engaged in a strategic planning process. This process has included a detailed analysis of changing demographics, volumes and financial forecasts. We have held focused discussions with staff, physicians, community leaders and our key healthcare partners. We have engaged our community through discussions and a telephone survey. We must find a way to balance our budget and ensure LDMH is strong and sustainable well into the future.

What are we going to be?

After evaluating a number of scenarios and options, the Board has decided that it wants to transform LDMH into an ACUTE CARE HUB. This means that LDMH will remain much the same hospital the community knows today; however, change is necessary. We must live within our means and find a way to eliminate the $2 million deficit and ensure the services we continue to provide will be sustainable. That means changes in service delivery. The Acute Care Hub model focuses on developing strategies to integrate services and reduce duplication across the system, provide higher quality care and better access to the full continuum of services for the patients we serve.

Why the Acute Care Hub?

The Acute Care Hub is the best model to ensure relevance and sustainability of LDMH well into the future. It ensures the 24/7 Emergency Department remains a core service and sustains LDMH as an acute care hospital by building on our strengths including: Internal Medicine, General Surgery and outpatient diagnostic services. Our focus will be on looking after the most important acute health care needs of our community—cardiac, respiratory and gastrointestinal patients. We need to ensure the right patient is in the right bed at the right time.

What is going to happen?

Throughout the remainder of this and into the next fiscal year, the implementation of Outlook 2020 will take place.

A number of key strategic initiatives will occur, the highlights of those changes include:

Strategic Initiative	Rationale
LDMH will be an acute care hub	Integration of services with Windsor hospitals means better access to expertise. We will be focusing on high volume services – cardiac, gastrointestinal, respiratory services. Emergency services provide urgent care to community and maintains LDMH as an acute care hospital.
Reclassification of LDMH ICU to Level 2. Close 2 beds in the Intensive Care Unit	This makes the ICU a 2 bed unit instead of a 4 bed unit. Only 60% occupancy and a high number of non-ICU/level days indicates that Level 3 ICU is not currently being provided at LDMH. Overall, the ICU has a 40-50% “Level 2” ICU occupancy rate. A service agreement with HDGH will ensure that the right patient is in the right bed at the right time. It will also ensure timely transfer of those patients.
Consolidate Medicine/Surgery and Obstetrics on the 2nd floor	The only way to keep the OB service is to consolidate it with Med/Surg on the 2nd floor. Maximize nursing coverage and make the service more efficient. Work with WRH to develop an integrated, coordinated service to try and provide better physician coverage and access to expertise.
Eliminate the inpatient Rehab Unit	Our patients are on average 10 years older than the other rehab units in the province and our patient mix is very different than provincial rehab units. Provincially the rehab program is aimed at orthopedic, neurological and stroke patients – LDMH hospital does not focus on these services/programs as core to our medical or surgical programs. Some physiotherapy and occupational therapy will still be available to inpatients on CCC and in the acute medical unit. Patients who require inpatient rehabilitation services and who meet the level of acuity will be treated at WRH – Western Campus. We will work with WRH to develop a more focused, integrated outpatient rehabilitation program.
Integration with Windsor hospitals	The viability of LDMH as an acute care hospital depends on change and integration within the regional hospital system. Diagnostics and technology are changing and growing so quickly we need to be smarter about how we are going to keep a competitive advantage. We will work more closely with both WRH and HDGH and all the hospitals in the LHIN to consolidate back-office and administrative functions. Need to reduce duplication within the system and control cost growth and escalation.