Ingersoll and Tillsonburg Hospitals get the green light to proceed with integration

Ingersoll’s Alexandria Hospital and the Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital are one step closer to integrating into Rural Roads Health Services. (Contributed Photo)

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has approved the full integration of Ingersoll’s Alexandria Hospital and the Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital.

The move was approved in December of last year but the province placed the announcement under a strict embargo until recently. While each site will keep its current name, the joint organization will be called Rural Roads Health Services.

CEO Nadia Facca said the new name came out of a board-approved process that lasted several months.

“We had sessions with frontline team members at each of the hospitals. At the start, there was a brainstorming exercise where we had people in person, virtually or did a survey. Those attending in person were given sticky notes and were asked what ideas they thought fit the nature and vision of our integration. We had about 100 options come forward.”

A task force team then looked at that list and reduced it down to four possibilities, all of which were put through a legal process.

“When you are applying to the MOH for an integration, you have to make sure your name and acronym are different from other organizations. One of the four names was removed and the three remaining ones were shared with community partners through a confidential survey for input.”

Facca added the boards were presented with the three final choices and landed on Rural Road Health Services.

“It was felt it encompassed the feeling and the reality our sites are connected by rural roads. The name evokes a comforting and nostalgic feeling speaking to the sentiment of our hospitals. We are very proud of who we are. We are rural health service providers, and we are proud of the care we deliver to our communities.” New integrated branding is in development in partnership with the Oxford County communications team for Rural Roads Health Services.

Over the next year, steps will be taken towards a common board, one professional staff organization and further internal administrative integration, where possible.

The hospitals outlined the key benefits of the integration in a press release. They include the strength of two hospitals coming together voluntarily in a large and complex health care system, improving the sustainability of two small hospitals serving local communities and improving patient care and the patient experience. The move will also integrate computer systems and digital solutions and reduce duplication while standardizing policies and processes.

Not every aspect of the two operations is coming together including each hospital’s foundation which will remain separate entities.

“That is because of the role the foundations play in the local communities. That’s not unlike other integrations where foundations have been kept separate. It’s important that fundraising stays local,“ explained Facca.

When asked about the site names of AHI and TDMH staying as is, Facca said “We are keeping the site names as is because there is a strong identity of each within each local community. We don’t want to rebrand and change so much that each site loses that individuality,” explained Facca.

She added there are many advantages the integration has already resulted in and more will come as the process moves forward.

“My role and the roles of most of our leaders have been integrated across both sites. Many of our teams are also unified and there is a huge advantage to that. At the Board level, we are now one step closer to fully being integrated. There is an advantage to that when it comes to governance. There isn’t two of everything which makes things more efficient.”

Facca acknowledged getting to this point has been a tremendous amount of work by many people from top to bottom of the organizations.

“I wouldn’t want to name names because I would miss people, but this has been talked about and planned for years. There were people with a vision and then leaders who progressed things along so we could get to this point. It is a great partnership that has developed over the years; it has truly been an evolution with a goal in mind.”

She added there is a lot of work to be done before April of next year as finance, human resources and information technology teams have specific work plans to complete.

“Our boards have legal documents and policies they need to work through. There is much to done but we are really happy with where we are at. We have an amazing team of dedicated board members and leaders, both past and present. Anyone who thought this was a possibility over the years can share in this milestone moment.”

The news releases also stated that collective bargaining agreements will be respected and changes to staff’s working conditions will be negotiated through union leaders. Non-unionized staff will be engaged in ongoing dialogue about their working conditions and changes will not happen without consultation and dialogue.

Other end goals include maintaining or improving quality of care and safety and improving access to care for patients.

“Where we are today is an evolution of many years of strong partnership and intentional planning and engagement with staff, physicians, patients, partners, volunteers, and the community. We are excited about becoming one integrated organization under the name of Rural Roads Health Services with two local sites. Through this, we are strengthening the sustainability of rural small community hospitals in the ever-changing health care landscape,” said Facca.