St. Joseph’s Health System is transforming the way we serve our communities by creating more connected care experiences across our three campuses of care in Dundas, Guelph and Brantford. To continue our leadership in integrated care, John Woods is the inaugural Integrated President of St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph, St. Joseph’s Villa Dundas and St. Joseph’s Lifecare Centre Brantford, effective October 7, 2024.
“We are advancing health beyond boundaries and transforming how we work together to care for our patients, clients and residents, families and care partners,” said Elizabeth Buller, President and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health System. “Through this integrated model, we are continuing to build innovative systems of care where individuals can age in place, connected to high-quality, compassionate healthcare and supports.”
St. Joseph’s Health System is one of Ontario’s largest not-for-profit long-term care providers with more than 900 care beds on three campuses of care across three cities in the Ontario Health West region. As a campus of care, each site is home to local and regional programs and services that support holistic care for patients, clients, residents, and families, including long-term care, complex care, rehabilitation, hospice and palliative care, community support and outreach services, respite and day programs, seniors housing, and behavioral support programs.
“Our founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph, believed it was an honour to serve their community. Inspired by their legacy, the Integrated President will strengthen and develop new partnerships, advocate for our communities, and continue pushing the boundaries to build innovative campuses of care where individuals can age in place, connected to high-quality, compassionate care and housing supports,” said Roger Fulton, Chair of the St. Joseph’s Health System Board of Directors.
John has more than 30 years of leadership experience in the St. Joseph’s Health System community, most recently serving as President of St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph and Interim President of St. Joseph’s Villa Dundas. John is currently Vice President of the St. Joseph’s Health System Nunavut Partnership. He has also served as Interim President of St. Joseph’s Home Care, and Interim President of St. Mary’s General Hospital, and he has held leadership roles at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.
As the Integrated President, mission-based leader and advocate for integrated care, John will work collaboratively with the healthcare providers, leadership teams, local boards, and Foundations across SJHS’ three campuses of care to deliver innovative care from the perspective of the patients, clients, residents and families. Together with leaders across our system of care, St. Joseph’s Health System is committed redefining care and reimagining teams while advancing our mission of compassionate care, faith, and discovery.
For more information, please contact:
Nicole Vaillancourt
Senior Communications and Engagement Officer
St. Joseph’s Health System
nvaillan@stjoes.ca
St. Mary’s General Hospital — a member organization of St. Joseph’s Health System — and Grand River Hospital have submitted an Integration Business Case report to the Ministry of Health on October 3, 2024. The Integration Business Case was approved by the boards of St. Mary’s, Grand River Hospital and St. Joseph’s Health System. This is an important and historic milestone in their journey to bring both Hospitals together to form one new organization to provide people in Kitchener-Waterloo with faster, more modern, improved access to fully integrated, high-quality, efficient care.
With the business case submitted, both organizations will continue to move forward with their joint capital redevelopment project, Building the Future of Care Together (BCFT). All hospital sites will remain operational, with no impact to patient care, for at least the next decade until the new hospital opens in 2034.
This change signals a new chapter of Catholic care in Kitchener-Waterloo, rooted in our legacy to address unmet needs of the community.
St. Mary’s General Hospital, a division of St. Joseph’s Health System, has been a pillar of healthcare delivery in the Kitchener-Waterloo region since 1924. It was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph who saw an unmet need in the community for hospital services. For the last 100 years, St. Mary’s has provided acute care in Waterloo Region and is a trusted place of healing and hope for the mind, body, and spirit. SJHS is committed to continuing and advancing this enduring legacy.
St. Joseph’s Health System is leading community engagement to gather feedback from the community, valued team members, and partners to determine how to meet evolving community needs and advance care beyond boundaries through compassionate care, faith, and discovery in the Region of Waterloo and beyond.
More information is available on the following websites:
When Paulette Clannon stepped into St. Mary’s General Hospital to support the People and Culture team part-time with labour relations in the spring of 2023, she had no idea it would lead to an opportunity to lead the team through an immense time of change as a member of St. Mary’s senior leadership team.
As Paulette wrapped up an eight-month secondment as Interim Chief of People and Culture at St. Mary’s on July 31, she reflected on her experience, including how the mission is deeply embedded in both cultures.
“It’s been a fantastic experience to develop and grow as a leader, stretching beyond what I’d typically do in labour relations into other dimensions of human resources,” said Paulette, who has served in multiple roles at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (SJHH) over 10 years. She officially rejoined the SJHH team on August 12 as Director of Employee and Labour Relations.
When an opportunity arose with St. Mary’s People and Culture team, leaders across St. Joseph’s Health System mobilized to see if there was anyone to step-in to provide interim support. As part of a shared commitment to investing in the healthcare teams of today and tomorrow, St. Joseph’s Health System is supporting opportunities for leaders and staff to expand their careers within the System.
“We want our healthcare workers to experience a ‘lifetime of careers’ within the System,” said Carrie Fletcher, Vice President of Human Resources at St. Joseph’s Health System and Executive Vice President of People, Culture and Strategy at SJHH. “This is one example of how we’re empowering our people with the skills, resources and opportunities to make an impact across the continuum of care.”
St. Joseph’s Health System has an expansive workforce of 10,000 healthcare workers embedded in a network of healthcare organizations, from acute care, long-term care, home and community care to rehabilitation and hospice. With a presence across the continuum united by a shared commitment to deliver mission-based care, the System is uniquely positioned to create unique, rewarding and distinctive experiences for staff, physicians and learners.
Since joining the St. Mary’s team — first on a once-a-week basis to provide collective bargaining and labour relations support (while maintaining her permanent role at SJHH) and then as full-time Interim Chief of People and Culture — Paulette has gained unique experience as a member of St. Mary’s senior leadership team. Not to mention leading the People and Culture team through significant organizational change as St. Mary’s and Grand River Hospitals progress on the voluntary merger.
“Paulette provided capable and compassionate people leadership as St. Mary’s announced the single largest change in our history,” says Mark Fam, President of St. Mary’s General Hospital. “Paulette was instrumental in bringing together the People(s), Culture and Experience teams of St. Mary’s and Grand River as one to support the proposed merger of the hospitals in 2025. Paulette is a grounded, approachable and thoughtful leader, who gave the team stability and assurance as we embarked on this integration journey.”
In addition to senior leadership experience, Paulette also expanded her employee engagement practice, attending service award and volunteer recognition dinners and shadowing healthcare workers on the front-line. One memorable experience for Paulette occurred earlier this year when she attended a job shadow of the Diagnostic Imaging team. At St. Mary’s, senior leaders shadow clinical teams monthly, allowing a first-hand perspective of how clinicians provide high-quality, mission-focused care to patients.
“I’ve always known our hospitals are home to thousands of dedicated healthcare workers, but this experience showed me that our mission — Living the Legacy of the Sisters of St. Joseph — is truly the basis for everything we do,” said Paulette. “One of the things that reminded me of the mission was how each professional, working with such expertise in their respective field, always prioritized the patient’s experience in the care they provided. They carefully took time with each patient to explain the procedure, answering questions with compassion and expertise, and problem solving together.”
Paulette noticed many similarities between St. Mary’s and SJHH and says this experience has enabled her to make new connections and bring the best from both organizations — things like policies, templates and processes — to create efficiencies and improvements across the System. Healthcare workers across organizations benefit from building connections and bridges, with teams finding innovative ways to collaborate and support one another.
One of Canada’s largest healthcare corporations, St. Joseph’s Health System healthcare workers are part of multiple communities of practice and have the mobility to train and work in a variety of settings throughout their career. In this case, a trickledown effect resulted in three people benefitting professionally from one secondment.
Carrie noted that this is one of many examples of healthcare workers who have taken on new roles within the System, including in human resources, quality, pharmacy, and senior leadership. It’s part of a larger strategy to support growth, development and succession planning across the System.
“These experiences develop more dynamic leaders, identify emerging leaders and offer unique career mobility,” said Carrie. “It’s one way that we’re working together as a System to find solutions to support, retain, and develop mission-driven healthcare teams and leaders of the future.”
The Minister of Health announced the groundbreaking of a new Reactivation Care Centre in Hamilton on August 12, 2024 at St. Joseph’s Villa Dundas. With $16.7 million in funding from the Ministry of Health, the Reactivation Care Centre will connect more people to restorative and specialty care closer to home.
“Our government is making historic investments in Ontario’s health care system to expand access to care and make it faster and easier for people to connect to the care they need, closer to home,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “The new Reactivation Care Centre will ensure more patients and their families in the Hamilton area are connected to the care and support they need, for years to come.”
Reactivation care is an innovative model of care that provides people with a place to continue their recovery when they no longer require hospital care, but require additional time and/or therapeutic intervention before they can safely return home, to long-term care or to other community-based care. The Centre is one of a number of ways that partners — led by St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton in collaboration with St. Joseph’s Villa Dundas and Hamilton Health Sciences — are working together to provide community-based solutions designed for patients who no longer require hospital care.
“This Reactivation Care Centre offers a unique opportunity to provide a continuity of care to patients who need more time to recover, while freeing up much-needed space in our hospital to provide acute care to more patients, faster,” said Mike Heenan, President, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. “We are so grateful to the Province for recognizing this need and for their investment into our community.”
Once opened, the 28,000 square-foot centre located at St. Joseph’s Villa Dundas will include 57 transitional care beds across three units to connect people to a variety of reactivation care needs, including complex care, dementia care services and behavioural support services. The new facility will also have four rooms with dialysis services, allowing more patients to access convenient, on-site hemodialysis treatment.
“Our community needs more options for people who require supportive care. This remarkable investment and partnership will add beds to our community where patients can regain their strength to safely return home or back to their community,” said John Woods, Interim President of St. Joseph’s Villa Dundas.
By moving patients out of hospitals into a new environment where they can continue their recovery in a home-like setting with supports, the Reactivation Care Centre provides more appropriate care for individuals before they transition to their next step. The care team will focus on supporting patients in resuming their routines, restoring their functional abilities and independence, preventing deconditioning and facilitating return home or to a different supportive care setting.
“Healthcare in our region will be more accessible for all because of this initiative. More capacity in our region to transition patients out of hospital helps our services and teams function more effectively. Hamilton Health Sciences is proud to be a partner in this vital project,” said Tracey MacArthur, President and CEO, Hamilton Health Sciences.
St. Mary’s General Hospital and Grand River Hospital have completed the due diligence process of their proposal to voluntarily merge into a single new hospital corporation.
In April, the boards of both Hospitals announced they had independently voted in favour of coming together. The new, merged organization would replace existing organizations and oversee current Hospital sites, services, and ongoing capital redevelopment projects.
On June 26, 2024, both Boards approved the legal and corporate due diligence process, agreeing to proceed with developing and submitting a proposal for integration to the Ministry of Health. The St. Joseph’s Health System Board of Directors also passed the motion and is supportive of the Hospitals moving to the next step in the merger process.
“Completing the due diligence phase marks a significant milestone in advancing our long partnership, signalling our entry into the next phase of our journey towards a new future as a single Hospital organization,” says St. Mary’s Board Chair Tim Rollins.
“After going through the due diligence process over the past two months, we are even more confident that integrating and maximizing our collective and unique strengths will put us in the best position to navigate the changing health care landscape and meet the needs of the rapidly growing communities of Waterloo-Wellington and beyond,” says Grand River Board Chair Sandra Hanmer.
In the weeks ahead, Grand River and St. Mary’s will focus on developing a merger business case for the Ministry of Health’s consideration, including asking the community to provide input on the new Hospital organization’s brand identity. The Hospitals will concurrently advance the joint capital redevelopment projects, including the proposed new acute care hospital in Waterloo Region. During the next decade of planning and building, the current Hospital sites will remain operational, with no impact on patient care. In the fall, St. Joseph’s Health System will partner with the St. Mary’s Board to engage communities on future opportunities for the St. Mary’s site. The goal is to support community needs while advancing Catholic healthcare in Waterloo Region.
The planned merger, expected to take place in spring 2025, builds on a decades-long history of partnership and collaboration between the Hospital organizations that has included a joint medical staff, shared clinical support services, collaborative COVID-19 responses, a shared health information system, and joint fundraising campaigns.
The Hospitals will continue to provide opportunities for members of the public to shape what this new Hospital organization will look like and how it will best serve the communities’ current and emerging healthcare needs. All are invited to complete the community survey, open until August 31, 2024, to share your thoughts on how we can care for you better, together. The survey has been translated to six languages and is available on request through futureofcaretogether.ca.
St. Joseph’s Health System Celebrates Seniors Month and asks you to Share your Working for Seniors Story
Seniors Month in Ontario offers up a chance to recognize, celebrate and champion the important work of seniors and those who care for them. This June we invite you to reflect on how you are Working for Seniors and living the legacy of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Our mission – Living the Legacy. Compassionate Care. Faith. Discovery — calls us to serve the dear neighbour, address health inequities and remove barriers for priority population groups across the System. For many of us, our dear neighbour is a senior. Residents aged 65 and older are part of the fastest-growing age group in Canada today. Seniors make up about 19 per cent of Ontario’s population and estimates show that the senior population is expected to exceed 11 million people by 2043.
St. Joseph’s Health System is a provincial leader in integrated elder care and one of the largest providers of not-for-profit long-term care in Ontario. The System’s vibrant campus of care model allows older adults to live well and enjoy community, while being an incubator for innovations in new models of integrated elder care.
Here’s a bit more about St. Joseph’s Health System elder care footprint:
- 870 Long-term care beds across three campuses of care (St. Joseph’s Villa Dundas, St. Joseph’s Life Care Brantford and St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph.
- 40 units located at First Place, an apartment building managed by CityHousing Hamilton with 24-hour Personal Support Workers support
- 10,000 Healthcare workers are part of St. Joseph’s Health System, many of whom care for seniors every day.
- 125-150 Annual admissions into one of St. Joseph’s Villa Dundas long-term care beds
- 500+ Seniors housing units, including:
- 107 St. Joseph’s Estates life-equity model housing on St. Joseph’s Villa campus
- 87 unit mix-income rental apartment building (Silver Maple Apartments)
- 28 unit market rate semi-detached rental townhomes (Silver Maple Townhomes)
- 80 1-and 2-bedroom affordable apartment units (Residences of St. Joseph’s)
- 200+ Supportive housing apartments
- 30+ Community programs, including respite care, specialty care for complex continuing, rehabilitation and palliative care, Day Programs, Bereavement Support Programs, 2SLGBTQIA+ Grief Support Program, Behavioural Supports Ontario, Hospice, Palliative Community Outreach Programs, Seniors Mental Health Outpatient and Outreach Programs, Stay Well Program and Exercise Program for Seniors, and more.
Strengthening elder care and reimagining long-term care networks is a key priority for St. Joseph’s Health System. One of the ways the System is delivering on its Strategic Plan, Care Redefined. Teams Reimagined is by harmonizing long-term care practices among member organizations.
For example, St. Joseph’s Life Care Brantford and St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph welcomed an Integrated Vice President of Finance this spring to work collaboratively across teams to share resources, systems and policies, ultimately bolstering services for patients, residents and staff. Another example is Project AMPLIFI, which connected clinical data of all six St. Joseph’s Health System member organizations, improving transitions for older adults moving between hospitals and long-term care homes. Long-term care teams across St. Joseph’s Health System are working collaboratively on approaches to quality improvement, policy development, resident and family feedback, and best practices across all sites.
To celebrate Seniors Month, all healthcare workers are invited to participate in the Share your Working for Seniors Story campaign, running until the end of June. Share your story about why you work with seniors, what you enjoy most, some of the challenges you face, and possible solutions.
Click here to Share your Working for Seniors Story.
Finally, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton is hosting Seniors Month Education sessions that are open to all healthcare workers in any St. Joseph’s Health System member organization. Click here for more information and to register today.
Thank-you for all you do to strengthen and reimagine for elder care for our patients, residents, families. And thank-you for continuing to support of one another.
Mieke Ewen, VP Elder Care, St. Joseph’s Health System and Chief Operating Officer, St. Joseph’s Villa, Margaret’s Place Hospice, St. Joseph’s Villa Estates
Elizabeth Buller, President & CEO, St. Joseph’s Health System.
Read more from healthcare workers across St. Joseph’s Health System sharing their Working for Seniors Stories
