Woodstock Hospital unveils new strategic plan

Woodstock Hospital unveiled its new strategic plan earlier this week with a staff party at the Juliana Drive facility. (Contributed Photo)

Lee Griffi, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Woodstock Hospital has unveiled its new 2025 to 2028 strategic plan.

In a news release, the hospital said, “It will serve as a roadmap to guide priorities and decision-making over the next three years, ensuring we continue to evolve and grow in a way that best serves patients, families, caregivers, our hospital team, and our community.”

The engagement campaign was billed as Share Your Voice, Shape Your Care. Jennifer Lynch, Director of Strategic Planning, Community Engagement, and Patient Experience, said she heard from more than 1,600 people through online surveys, virtual engagement sessions, and in-person community meetings.

She added strategic plans are helpful, particularly for a hospital to find out what a community needs now and in the future.

“We focused more on being people-centred. Years ago, it was always about being patient-centred, but for us, it is about the patient, the family, our hospital team, the community and our community partners. It’s really about everyone coming together to see what we need now and what we need in the future.”

She added the plan allows the hospital to have a clear direction and priorities to ensure initiatives align with what matters most to the people served.

“The response was overwhelming and underscored how deeply people care about their local hospital and its future.”

Lynch explained she and her team left no stone unturned when it came to engagement with stakeholders.

“We did things internally like a cart going around to staff, getting their feedback and what’s important to them. We emailed staff and had town hall meetings with them. We had an online community partners session, met with our board of trust and our patient/family advisors.”

She added community engagement was also crucial to the plan’s development.

“You probably saw us on social media at the farmer’s market, the library and Fanshawe College. We kind of hit everywhere and we also did an online survey which gave us a lot of feedback. It was more qualitative feedback, which is what we wanted, because we needed people to write an answer and explain where they’re coming from.”

The hospital said it gained valuable insight into what matters most to those they serve.

“We heard strong support for our compassionate staff, clean and modern facility, and the broad range of services we offer. At the same time, the feedback pointed to opportunities for improvement, such as expanding mental health and paediatric care, addressing staffing challenges, and reducing wait times, added the release.

Despite the many positives coming out of the plan, Lynch explained there were also a few areas where the hospital realized it needed to improve, none of which came as a surprise.

“Improving mental health and addiction services in Woodstock. Another area that was a common theme was pediatric care. We have opened up Outpatient Clinic B and recruited two paediatricians and that space is dedicated to pediatrics.”

She added many people commented on how clean and modern the hospital is and how compassionate and caring staff members are. The plan’s slogan is ‘Centered on You,’ and the hospital has also developed a renewed mission, vision, values, and values statement:

• Mission: Providing exceptional people-centred care for the well-being of our community.

• Vision: Evolving together to meet the growing needs of our community.

• Values: Compassionate, Innovative, Collaborative, Accountable

• Values Statement: We are united in our commitment to compassionate care driven by innovation, collaboration, and accountability.

“Whether you are a patient, caregiver, hospital team member, or valued community partner, your input played a role in shaping our new plan, and we hope you see your feedback reflected in it. We were very proud of that and had a party (Monday) at the hospital to unveil it to the staff,” said Lynch.

As the hospital moves into the implementation phase, a detailed tactical plan will guide the rollout of specific initiatives that fall under one of the four strategic pillars. They are Caring, Empowering, Evolving, and Collaborating. Progress will be monitored, tracked, and communicated on our website to ensure transparency and accountability.

“The engagement phase reaffirmed that we are moving in the right direction and that our priorities are aligned with the needs of our community,” said Perry Lang, President and CEO.

To learn more about the plan, visit www.woodstockhospital.ca/strategic-plan/.