2022-2025 - Accessibility plan for people with disabilities
People with disabilities can request information in an accessible format and communication aids suited to their needs, such as voice amplifiers, electrolarynx devices, magnifying glasses and multilingual communication boards.
For more information or to provide feedback on accessibility at Hôpital Montfort, call us at 613-746-4621, extension 2263, email us at patient@montfort.on.ca, or talk to your care team.
Table of contents
- Introduction
- Description of Hôpital Montfort
- Accessibility Committee
- Accessibility Planning Commitment
- Barrier Identification
- Strategies and Measures
- Review and Follow-up Process
- Communications
1. Introduction
Hôpital Montfort and its partners strive to meet the needs of patients and their loved ones, staff, physicians, students, volunteers and other members of the community of people with disabilities, and to remove and prevent barriers to access.
Our organizations are committed to complying with the requirements set out in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005. This Accessibility Plan presents the measures adopted by Hôpital Montfort and its partners to meet these requirements and to offer more opportunities to people with disabilities. The plan also incorporates the principles of Ontario’s frame of reference for “Senior-Friendly Hospitals” ».
Our plan shows how Hôpital Montfort fulfils its role with an eye to making Ontario an accessible province for all Ontarians.
2. Description of Hôpital Montfort
Founded in 1953, Hôpital Montfort is now Ontario’s Francophone academic hospital, offering exemplary, person-centred care.
Montfort’s vision is to be “Your hospital of reference for exceptional services, designed with you and for you.” The daily actions of Montfort’s staff are guided by the values of compassion, excellence, respect, accountability and mutual support.
Montfort’s 2023 strategy is a continuation of the preceding strategy, focused on making advancements and pursuing the following objectives:
- Patients will have integrated health services centred on their needs.
- Patients will benefit from a Centre of Clinical Excellence in Chronic Disease Management.
- Minority Francophones will have access to quality health services.
- Everyone (patients, loved ones, staff) will have an exceptional experience with every interaction.
Note that the concept of accessibility is omnipresent and implicit in each of these objectives.
In 2020, Montfort established a Committee Against Racism and for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (CREDI), comprised and co-chaired by staff members, who report directly to the President and CEO. Presently, the Committee is focused on actions to counter all forms of racism at Montfort. Its mandate is also to promote equity, diversity and inclusion.
Moreover, Hôpital also cultivates a spirit of partnership with other healthcare facilities, with training centres and with community organizations to ensure a continuum of care, innovation, continuous improvement of the care that it offers, client satisfaction and the development of its resources. The opening of the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub and the progress of the Ottawa East Ontario Health Team are concrete demonstrations of this.
Hôpital Montfort serves an urban and rural population, including the City of Ottawa, the united counties of Prescott and Russell and of Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry, and Northern Ontario.
3. Accessibility Committee
The Management Committee approved the establishment of a permanent Accessibility Committee.
The Committee’s mandate is to:
- Identify and understand the structures, acts, regulations, policies, programs, practices and services of (or applicable to) Hôpital Montfort and its partners concerning accessibility and barriers to access that people with disabilities regularly face.
- Develop, review, approve and implement the multi-year Accessibility Plan.
- Support the development of the policies and procedures required to ensure accessibility and verify compliance.
- Support the promotion of accessibility training and awareness strategies.
- Collaborate on establishing and monitoring a mechanism for processing accessibility complaints (refers to processes within the Quality Improvement and Risk Management Department).
- Advise the hospital’s managers on any issues that arise in relation to accessibility, as needed.
- Conduct an annual evaluation of progress made toward achieving the multi-year Accessibility Plan’s objectives, with a publicly-available report.
- Act as Montfort ambassadors in removing barriers.
The Committee members are representatives from the following sectors:
- Communications
- Organizational Development
- Therapeutic Services
- Quality and Risk Management/Patient Experience
- Facilities
- Professional Practice (ad hoc)
- Human Resources
- Clinical Services
- Institut du savoir Montfort
- Clients with Disabilities
- Patient-Partners
- Volunteer
- Information Technologies
4. Commitment to accessibility planning
Hôpital Montfort and its satellite sites, as well as its partners, are committed to removing barriers and adopting the measures required to ensure that its policies, programs and services are in line with accessibility principles.
More specifically, Hôpital Montfort is committed to:
- continuously improving access to its premises, facilities and services offered to patients and their families, staff, physicians, volunteers, students and members of the community;
- promoting the values that underpin the relationships between people with disabilities and the organization;
- fostering, where possible, the involvement of representatives or people with disabilities in developing and reviewing its annual Accessibility Plan;
- ensuring that the hospital’s policies are updated to comply with accessibility principles;
- etablishing and maintaining an active Accessibility Committee.
5. Methods for identifying barriers
| Methodology | Description | Status - Date |
|---|---|---|
| Consultations with Accessibility Committee members | The members of the Accessibility Committee are encouraged to add items to the list of barriers as soon as they become aware of a problem. | Ongoing |
| Complaints management procedure | Procedure that encourages patients, families and visitors to express their concerns about care and services. Policy and procedure in place. | Ongoing |
| Client satisfaction survey | External firm randomly sends a questionnaire to the target clientele. Quality and Risk Management informs the Committee of accessibility-related comments. | Ongoing |
| Occupational health and safety inspections |
The members of the Occupational Health and Safety Committee carry out monthly tours of the hospital units to verify conditions and ensure a safe workplace. Follow-up with the Accessibility Committee if accessibility risks or barriers are identified.
|
Ongoing |
| Consultation with patients/partners/clients with disabilities |
A patient-partner sits on the Accessibility Committee. Consultations are occasionally held with experts in the field. |
Addition of a patient-partner to the Accessibility Committee (by April 2017) |
|
Training on the needs of seniors integrated into the general orientation and certain specific training programs |
Training sessions to identify needs and improve services offered to a growing senior clientele. |
Ongoing |
6. Strategies
Hôpital Montfort is committed to respecting the integrated accessibility standards, as defined in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005. More specifically:
General provisions
Hôpital Montfort is committed to offering training on the requirements of Ontario’s laws on accessibility and the Human Rights Code as it pertains to people with disabilities.
Hôpital Montfort is committed to taking into account accessibility-based design and accessibility criteria and options when obtaining or procuring goods, services or facilities, except if it is not materially possible.
Hôpital Montfort is committed to integrating the accessibility features/taking into account accessibility for people with disabilities when designing, obtaining or procuring self-serve kiosks.
For more information on the initiatives Hôpital Montfort and its partners intend to pursue to comply with the general provisions of integrated accessibility standards, please refer to the Accessibility Committee’s annual reports.
Information and communications
Hôpital Montfort and its partners are committed to making the information and communications they produce accessible to all people with disabilities.
For more information on the initiatives Hôpital Montfort and its partners intend to pursue to comply with the information and communications standards, please refer to the Accessibility Committee’s annual reports.
Employment
Hôpital Montfort and its partners are committed to adopting equitable and accessible employment practices.
For more information on the initiatives Hôpital Montfort and its partners intend to pursue to comply with employment standards, please refer to the Accessibility Committee’s annual reports.
Designing public spaces
Hôpital Montfort and its partners support legislation on accessibility when designing or making extensive changes to public spaces.
Hôpital Montfort and its partners are establishing procedures to prevent any interruption in service at accessible areas of its public spaces.
For more information on the initiatives that Hôpital Montfort and its partners intend to pursue to comply with the design of public spaces standards, please refer to the Accessibility Committee’s annual reports.
Customer service
Hôpital Montfort and its partners are committed to providing accessible services to patients with disabilities. This means that we will provide them with services and facilities of the same quality and in the same timely manner as those enjoyed by other patients.
For more information on the initiatives of Hôpital Montfort and its partners intend to pursue to comply with the customer service standards, please refer to the Accessibility Committee’s annual reports.
7. Review and follow-up process
The Committee will meet at least four times a year to review the report and monitor progress in order to ensure that the strategies to remove and prevent barriers are duly implemented according to schedule. As needed, group members can meet with external partners specialized in the field.
8. Communications
The Accessibility Plan of Hôpital Montfort and its partners is available on the hospital’s website at hopitalmontfort.com, and printed copies are available, upon request, from the Quality and Risk Management Branch (Tel.: 613-746-4621, ext. 2263) and the Communications Department (Tel.: 613-746-4621, ext. 2049). The report is also available in other formats depending on needs expressed by clients.
The plan is also shared with staff through committees and the Employee Portal.
Annexe A - Definitions
Disability:
According to the AODA, a disability is: any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement that is caused by bodily injury, birth defect or illness and includes diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, motor coordination impairment, blindness or visual impairment, deafness or hearing impairment, muteness or speech impairment, or physical reliance on a guide dog or other animal or on a wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device; an intellectual disability or a developmental disability; a learning disability, or a dysfunction in one or more of the processes involved in understanding or using symbols or spoken language; a mental illness; an injury or disability for which benefits were claimed or received under the insurance plan established under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.
Barrier:
Anything that prevents a person with a disability from fully participating in all aspects of society due to their disability, in particular a physical or architectural barrier, an information or communications barrier, a behavioural barrier, a technological barrier, a policy or a practice.
Annexe B - Definitions
Policy and Procedures: No. ADMIN 110
Title: Accessibility for people with disabilities
Effective: March 2010
Last revision: June 2021
- Hôpital Montfort (HM) is committed to treating people with disabilities equally about the use of and access to its services, programs, goods and facilities. HM is committed to providing people with disabilities the same opportunities to access its services and allow them to receive the same services as other people, at the same location and in a similar manner. This commitment applies to patients, families, visitors and staff of Hôpital Montfort who have visible and non-visible disabilities.
- HM adheres to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA). Under the present policy, HM combines the requirements of the Regulation on the Accessibility Standard for Customer Service and the Regulation on Integrated Accessibility Standards established under the AODA.
- HM establishes policies, practices and procedures for removing barriers, providing services and supporting people with disabilities. These policies, practices and procedures respect the basic principles of autonomy, dignity, integration and equal opportunity.
- HM delivers training to all its staff and members of its Board of Directors on the OADA and its accessibility standards, as well as the Human Rights Code (in relation to accessibility). HM keeps an up-to-date record of the individuals who received this mandatory training.
- HM provides documentation on this policy and each of its requirements on its website and provides it upon request in an accessible format or with the appropriate communication supports.
- HM establishes a multi-year accessibility plan in consultation with people with disabilities. The plan is posted on the Hospital’s website and is provided in an accessible format or, by request, with the appropriate communication supports. HM reports on the progress made in responding to the needs determined in the plan based on the schedule established in the AODA. The accessibility plan and related progress reports are approved by senior management and presented to the board of directors.
- HM develops and keeps up-to-date policies governing how HM meets the requirements under the AODA and provides these policies in an accessible format, on request.
- The Hospital considers accessibility criteria and options when procuring or acquiring goods, services, self-serve kiosks or facilities, unless this is not materially possible. If it is not materially possible to consider accessibility criteria and options, the Hospital provides an explanation for this on request.