News Release

Trillium Health Centre Wins National Award for Quality and Innovation

MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, June 6, 2002: Trillium Health Centre has been awarded the prestigious Canadian College of Health Service Executives and 3M Health Care Quality Team Award for its innovative, highly successful ambulatory care centre.

Presented to Trillium at an awards ceremony in Halifax last week, this industry accolade recognizes quality and innovation as well as exemplary teamwork. Competing with a large number of entries from across Canada, Trillium's submission focussed on the medical and surgical facilities within the state-of the art ambulatory care centre that is being developed at Trillium's Queensway Site. The centre is being recognized, nationally and internationally, as a model for the future of ambulatory care.

Wendy Nelson, Vice-President of Patient Services at Trillium notes, "With the launch of our ambulatory care centre, the benchmark for quality ambulatory care has taken a giant step forward. This innovative centre is evidence of remarkable quality improvement in ambulatory care, involving an exceptional team, dedicated to superlative patient care."

The stringent award criteria demand results-oriented projects that can demonstrate improved programs or services for the community, increased efficiency and attention to customer satisfaction. Larry McBride, Manager, 3M Health Care Services and one of the Award adjudicators comments "What I saw was a very strategic initiative, with excellent information analysis and evidence of really good outcomes from both the financial and patient satisfaction perspectives. This was an outstanding submission!"


Among the outcomes that impressed the Award adjudicators:

• The ambulatory centre's medical clinics serve more than 9,000 patients annually;
  
• The savings from converting medical treatment to an ambulatory setting from either emergency visits or an inpatient setting are more than $1.3 million a year;
  
• Annual savings from transferring patients needing day surgery from Trillium's acute (in-patient) Mississauga Site to its Queensway Site are $2.56 million;
  
• Outpatient surgical volumes have doubled in past three years, a mark of the centre's excellent reputation.
  
• Patient satisfaction and compliments have increased dramatically.

In accepting the award, Trillium's President & CEO, Ken White said, "We are deeply honoured to have been chosen for this prestigious award. This recognition has made us proud of what we have achieved and signifies our progress in becoming leaders in health innovation."

The development of Trillium's ambulatory care centre will continue to evolve over the coming year. Plans call for a Cancer Detection and Treatment Centre and Breast Centre at this location. A Respiratory Day Hospital will offer an alternative to inpatient care for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and the Trillium Spine Institute is in the planning stages.

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FYI: a backgrounder on Trillium Health Centre is attached to this release.

For more information, contact Susanna Smith or David Allen, Public Relations Department, 905-848-7538.

Trillium Health Centre

As one of the leading community hospitals in Ontario, Trillium Health Centre continues to expand in response to the growing health care needs of the one million+ residents it serves in Mississauga, Etobicoke, and the surrounding Toronto region.

An unparalleled commitment to the development of innovative, collaborative and cutting edge patient care services has lead to its role as a regional centre for Stroke, Neurosurgery and Sexual Assault & Domestic Violence, and as a provincial centre for Advanced Cardiac Services. The hospital is also home to the busiest Emergency department in Canada and the largest free-standing day surgery facility in North America.

Trillium's two-site model facilitates the delivery of comprehensive services for both inpatient and ambulatory care. Its 500-bed acute care Mississauga Site features a 24-hour Emergency Care Centre, a Family Care Centre dedicated to women's and children's health needs, the largest birthing centre in the region and the largest concentration of critical care services in a non-teaching hospital in Canada. Five kilometres away, the hospital's Queensway Site in Etobicoke continues to emerge as a showcase facility for the delivery of ambulatory care services, housing a 14-hour urgent care centre, rehabilitation services, surgical clinics, a modern day surgery centre, diabetes education centre, mental health services, and a cardiac wellness and rehabilitation centre. Over the next three years, facilities at this location will expand to offer a relaxing, homelike atmosphere dedicated to wellness. Both sites are supported by a full complement of diagnostic, laboratory and pharmaceutical services. A variety of community-based programs extend the hospital's outreach.

Supporting Trillium's commitment to health and wellness, each site features a Health Information and Wellness Centre offering one of the most comprehensive and consumer-friendly health collections available in the community.

Trillium's services are provided under the umbrella of eight health systems – Cardiac Care, Diagnostics and Pharmaceuticals, Emergency Services, Medicine, Mental Health, Neurosciences/Musculoskeletal Services, Surgery, and Women's and Children's Health. Community advisory panels, family physicians and community agencies work hand in hand with staff, physicians and volunteers to create a consultative, cooperative framework for the delivery of health care services in Mississauga and Etobicoke.

Recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers by best-selling author and career specialist Richard Yerema, Trillium Health Centre is supported by 3760 employees, 630 physicians and 1800 volunteers.

Awarded top honours with a three-year accreditation by the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation in 2001, Trillium continues to redefine boundaries in the delivery of health care services through exemplary leadership, best practice and innovation.

Media Contacts

For all media enquiries, please call Public Relations at 905-848-7580 ext. 3832.