Groves Hospital board chairman Janet Vallery announced recently that the board had signed the 2008-09 Hospital Service Accountability Agreement with the Waterloo-Wellington Local Health Integration Network (WWLHIN).
Vallery said, “Groves has been able to develop a plan to guide hospital operations for the next two years.
“Our plan was mutually negotiated with the WWLHIN and has a goal of financial recovery along with long-term sustainability ensuring a satisfactory level of services to meet our community’s needs.”
The plan includes one-time spending by the WWLHIN to assist Groves in its transition to financial stability and a balanced budget.
Groves Chief Executive Officer Jerome Quenneville said, “Although we are confident of achieving the balanced budget status, Groves is still faced with a significant challenge of limited financial resources to meet increasing health care needs of the community. We must investigate alternate models of service delivery, including enhancing our partnerships.”
Quenneville added, “We had to make the difficult decision of realigning our outpatient physiotherapy program, recognizing that these services are also available within the community.”
Service enhancements included in the 2008-09 plan include: implementation of CT services at Groves in 2008; implementation of the aging-at–home program Telehome Monitoring for Rural Seniors; a partnership with the Upper Grand Family Health Team, the Waterloo-Wellington CCAC; Waterloo-Wellington Futures Development Corporation; and North Wellington Health Care; additional support from the Waterloo-Wellington CCAC for discharge planning and enhanced mental health access to crisis resources.
Groves currently has an annual operating budget of $21-million. A balanced budget is projected for 2008-09 and 2009-10. Services are continually being monitored and Groves works with community partners to help support ongoing local health care, reducing duplication and adding efficiencies where possible.
Vallery is pleased the organization has been able to successfully negotiate the agreement with the WWLHIN.
“Although we have a lot of hard decisions to make, we are fortunate to have exceptional physicians, staff, and volunteers who will continue to provide exemplary care through these challenging times.
“We are also very fortunate that our family of health care providers in the WWLHIN area are open to collaboration and partnerships.”
