Honouring the Past, Celebrating the Present, Building the Future

Annual Report to the Community 2023–2024

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The year 2023–2024 was a period of renewal for Ontario’s Francophone academic hospital, proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa. The last few months were marked by new members joining our leadership team, by several innovations in our service offer and by the launch of an ambitious strategic planning process.

Through exceptional care, a compassionate approach and important partnerships, Montfort is resolutely rooted in its community. We wish to honour the past, celebrate the present, and build the future—with you and for you.

Honouring the past

In July 2023, to honour the memory and important legacy of Gisèle Lalonde, Montfort inaugurated the “Voie Gisèle Lalonde“—the first road linking Aviation Parkway to the hospital—on the occasion of the first anniversary of the death of this leading figure of the SOS Montfort movement.

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In August 2023, the Montfort Foundation and Hôpital Montfort signed an agreement with Anishinaabe artist Simon Brascoupé, for collaboratively created Indigenous artworks that will grace the hospital and the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub. 

In October 2023, the hospital celebrated its 70th anniversary, with dozens of people gathered for the occasion. It was the perfect opportunity to celebrate the legacy of the Daughters of Wisdom, the founders of the hospital, and the progress Montfort has made over the decades.   

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In March 2024, Dr. Bernard Leduc, President and Chief Executive Officer of the hospital until July 2023, was awarded the March 22 Medal. A limited run of 22 copies of this medal was created by Montfort in 2004 to recognize the Francophone builders, advocates and leaders who hold the hospital dear to their hearts and have helped it to grow and distinguish itself.

Celebrating the present 

In July 2023, Montfort adopted a new patient satisfaction survey, now available online. Client feedback is essential to continuously improving the quality of care and services at the hospital, and we know how important it is for our patients and their loved ones to be able to share their experience with us.

In September 2023, the hospital announced the introduction of HealthHub smart screens, integrated at the patients’ bedside. These screens serve as a multifunctional platform, enriching the hospital stay for patients by providing them with access to connectivity functions and a range of entertainment, information and educational resources.  

In fall 2023, our new President and Chief Executive Officer, Dominic Giroux, was re-elected Chair of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Hospital Association, which represents Ontario’s 140 hospitals, and was named Special Advisor— French Language Health Services to the President and CEO of Ontario Health, Matthew Anderson.  

At the time of the fire at The Ottawa Hospital General Campus in October 2023, our teams joined with others in mobilizing to help the community. For 72 hours, Montfort was the only emergency room for adults and the only birthing centre that could receive patients in Ottawa east of The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus. 

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In December 2023, Montfort was named, for the ninth consecutive time, one of Canada’s top 40 research hospitals, and was ranked among the three Canadian hospitals to have experienced the greatest growth in research funding over the past year.  

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In February 2024, the hospital was once again recognized as one of the best hospitals in the world, among which it has ranked since 2019, and one of the 50 best Canadian hospitals. It was also recognized as among the top employers in the National Capital region for the fifth time.

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Since February 2024, Montfort has been offering a new interpretation service for patients who do not speak French or English. The Voyce simultaneous interpretation platform, available at the bedside, makes it possible to communicate by video call on-demand and in 240 languages.

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In March 2024, the agreement between Montfort and National Defence was renewed. Under this $100 million partnership, extending until at least 2032, quality health care will be provided to members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Also in March 2024, under a new agreement concluded between the Ottawa Paramedic Service and Ottawa’s hospitals, Francophone patients will be able to ask to be brought to Montfort and, except in very urgent cases or ones requiring resuscitation, the Paramedic Service will do its best to respond to these requests, unless the clinical services required are not offered at Montfort. This provision will apply east of the Rideau River; hospital CEOs were in support of it also applying east of Highway 416, but this is not currently possible due to operational constraints. 

Last year, we responded to an increase in demand for various services. For example, we recorded an increase of:

• 18% in cardiorespiratory examinations 
• 13% in medical imaging tests 
• 12% in the number of days of adult admissions, representing an average of 32 more patients admitted than in 2022–2023
• 9% in outpatient clinic visits
• 8% in day medicine visits
• 5% in Emergency visits
• 5% in the number of days of newborn admissions
• 2% in surgical procedures 

Despite this increase in demand: 

• Wait times for medical imaging (CT, MRI) remained below the provincial average.
• The average duration of a stay in Emergency for patients admitted decreased and remained below the provincial average.
• A higher proportion of patients waiting for surgery at Montfort had their procedure within the recommended timeframe, compared with the provincial average and the previous year.
• Our annual deficit was reduced from $8.5M in 2022–2023 to $0.2M in 2023–2024.
• Net current assets, that is, short-term assets minus short-term liabilities, rose from $17.1M to $27.9M. 

Lastly, it should be noted that in 2023–2024: 

• The Post-Surgical Remote Monitoring Program, launched in April 2022 through a collaboration between Montfort and the Ottawa and Prescott-Russell paramedic services was so successful that other hospitals and Ontario Health Teams in the region joined the initiative.
• We secured the renewal of annualized funding for the 20-bed transitional care unit at the Beacon Heights Residence. Moreover, temporary funding for a dozen medical beds became permanent and additional critical care beds are now funded.
• The number of visits to the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub increased with the introduction of new specialized services, such as neonatology and pathology.
• The proportion of patients having elective surgery and leaving the hospital the same day increased again.
• The proportion of patients reporting that they had adequate information at the time of discharge increased.
• The rate of employee turnover dropped by one-third.
• We eliminated the use of private nursing agencies.
• We had a net increase of 148 employees, which required the recruitment of 443 employees to replace those who left.
• The investment in hours of staff orientation and training increased by 21%. 

Building the future

In 2023–2024, the hospital welcomed five new members to its Board of Directors, a new President and CEO and six new vice-presidents and associate vice-presidents, including, for the first time, an Associate Vice-President, Social Accountability. These new senior leaders represent three external appointments and four internal promotions. We are very proud of this renewed and experienced leadership team.  

The adoption of our interprofessional collaborative care model was pursued and is now deployed in all of our medical and surgical units. This collaborative approach focusses on reviewing the roles and responsibilities of all of the members of the team, so that each person can contribute based on their field of expertise. Several professional development opportunities were offered to enhance our teams’ skills.  

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To highlight Montfort’s exceptional workplace and to support our staff recruitment and retention efforts, the hospital’s employer brand was updated. 

We pursued our efforts to sensitize and train our managers regarding the crucial issues of antiracism, equity, diversity and inclusion. Training was offered to open and nurture discussion on these issues. Our organizational strategy on this important topic is an ongoing priority.

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In winter 2024, Montfort embarked on a joint strategic planning process with the Institut du Savoir Montfort and Santé Montfort. It was an opportunity to hold four public conferences with renowned guests and to lead more than 80 consultations at Montfort and across the province, in French and English, to pave the way for the future. More than 1,300 people contributed to what we called the “season of ideas.” The 2024–2028 strategic plan will be published by November. 

Together for tomorrow 

Our continuous improvement efforts in 2024–2025 will focus on: 

• Continuing to increase the proportion of “definitely, yes” answers to the question in the patient satisfaction survey “Would you recommend this hospital to your family and friends?”
• Increasing the number of nurses
• Reducing the length of stays in Emergency for very urgent, non-admitted cases
• Reducing workplace violence leading to harm and interruption of work
• Reducing our deficit
• Reducing the ratio of average length of stay of patients admitted in medicine in relation to the expected length of stay

We wish to thank our employees, physicians, midwives, researchers, learners, volunteers, patient partners, donors and partners for their exceptional support. 

Our academic mission pushes us to expand the boundaries of health knowledge. We are vested with the important responsibility of training the next generation of health professionals, leading innovative research and sharing our expertise in Ontario, Canada and internationally.  

Montfort embodies much more than a simple place of care, teaching and research. It is the symbol of our commitment to the health and well-being of the communities we serve.

Above all, everything we do, we do with you and for you.

Carl Nappert 
Chair of the Board of Directors

Dominic Giroux 
President and CEO 

Board of Directors  

Senior Leadership  

Medical Governance  

Financial Statements 2023-2024

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