Montfort's Accessibility Plan 2017-2021
People with disabilities may ask to receive information in an accessible format and communication aids suited to their needs, such as voice amplifiers, electrolarynx devices, magnifying glasses or multi-lingual communication boards.
For more information or to provide feedback on accessibility at Hôpital Montfort, please call 613-746-4621, ext. 2239, email patient@montfort.on.ca or ask your medical 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 its patients and their loved ones, staff, physicians, students, volunteers and other members of the community of people with disabilities, and to eliminate and prevent barriers to access.
Our organizations agree to comply with the requirements set out in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), 2005. This Accessibility Plan outlines the steps taken by Hôpital Montfort and its partners to meet these requirements and 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 will play its role to make Ontario accessible for all Ontarians.
2. Description of Hôpital Montfort
Mission: Hôpital Montfort is a francophone teaching hospital that offers exemplary, patient-centred care.
Vision: To be your go-to hospital for outstanding services designed with you and for you.
Values: Our daily actions are guided by values founded on compassion, excellence, respect, accountability and mutual support.
Our 2016-2021 strategy has four major objectives:
- Enhance clinical services in a targeted manner;
- Become a centre of clinical excellence in multiple morbidities;
- Establish the attributes of a university hospital;
- Fulfill our provincial mandate.
Hôpital Montfort also cultivates a spirit of partnership with other health-care institutions, training centres and community organizations to ensure continuity of care, innovation, continuous improvements to the care offered, client satisfaction and professional development. Hôpital Montfort serves an urban and rural population, including the City of Ottawa, the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry and Northern Ontario.
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 encounter;
- Develop, review, approve and implement the multi-year Accessibility Plan;
- Support development of the policies and procedures required to implement the Accessibility Plan and verify its implementation;
- Support the promotion of accessibility training and awareness strategies;
- Collaborate on developing and monitoring an accessibility complaint processing mechanism;
- As needed, advise the hospital’s managers on any issues that surface in relation to accessibility;
- Conduct an annual evaluation of progress made toward achieving the plan’s objectives, with a publicly available report;
- Act as Hôpital Montfort ambassadors in the elimination of barriers.
Les membres du comité sont des représentants des secteurs suivants :
- Organisational Development
- Therapeutic Services
- Communications
- Quality and Risk Management/Patient Experience
- Facilities
- Professional Practice (ad hoc)
- Human Resources
- Clinical Services
- Institut du savoir Montfort
- Clients with Disabilities
- Patient-Partner Representative
- Volunteer
Accessibility Planning Commitment
Hôpital Montfort and its partners agree to eliminate barriers by adopting the measures required to ensure that its policies, programs and services are in line with accessibility principles.
More specifically, Hôpital Montfort and its partners agree to:
- Continuously improve access to its premises, facilities and the services offered to patients and their family members, staff, physicians, volunteers and community members;
- Promote values that foster relationships between people with disabilities and the organization;
- To the extent possible, foster involvement by representatives of people with disabilities in developing and reviewing its annual Accessibility Plan;
- Ensure that hospital policies are updated to comply with accessibility principles;
- Establish and maintain a committee actively engaged in addressing accessibility issues.
Barrier Identification
| Methodology | Description | Status - Date |
|---|---|---|
| Consultations with Accessibility Committee members | 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 | Process that encourages patients, families and visitors to express their concerns with care and services. Policy and procedures 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 | 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 takes place if accessibility risks or barriers are identified. | Ongoing |
| Consultation with patients/partners/clients with disabilities | Addition of a patient partner to the Accessibility Committee. Consultations with associations of people with disabilities. | Addition of a patient-partner to the Accessibility Committee (by April 2017) |
| Training on the needs of the elderly forming part of general orientation and certain specific training programs | Training sessions to identify needs and improve services geared to a growing elderly clientele. | Ongoing |
6. Strategies and Measures
Client Services
Hôpital Montfort and its partners agree to provide accessible services to clients with disabilities. We will therefore provide goods and services to people with disabilities in a timely manner in keeping with the same universally applicable standards of quality.
Some initiatives that Hôpital Montfort and its partners plan to implement to meet the client service standard include:
- Deliver training to new employees during their general orientation;
- Deliver training to existing staff (accessibility and Human Rights Code) through the Learning Management System (LMS) in light of changes in client service standards;
- Organize visits to different units/simulations to gather feedback on practices;
- Pay greater attention to communications about disruptions during construction and renovation work.
Information et Communications
Hôpital Montfort and its partners agree to make their information and communications accessible to people with disabilities.
Initiatives that Hôpital Montfort and its partners intend to pursue to comply with information and communication standard:
- Prepare toolkits for meeting various accessibility/communications needs for the Emergency Department and patient care units (including such things as pocket talkers, magnifying glasses, etc.);
- Continue transforming the Web site to reach the WACG 2.1 level in 2021;
- Review information on data screens to make them easier to read/more accessible.
Employment
Hôpital Montfort and its partners agree to adopt equitable and accessible employment practices.
Initiatives that Hôpital Montfort and its partners plan to pursue to comply with employment standards:
- Change the template for position posters to include the "equal opportunity" concept;
- Heighten recruitment visibility among the population segment with disabilities.
General Provisions
Hôpital Montfort and its partners agree to:
- Raise awareness among staff about accessibility for people with disabilities.
- Introduce accessible procurement procedures.
- Establish accessibility features/take account of accessibility for people with disabilities when designing, obtaining or procuring self-serve kiosks.
Initiatives that Hôpital Montfort and its partners intend to pursue to comply with general provisions:
- Modify existing kiosks as needed to make them more accessible;
- Perform simulations and knowledge audits;
- Develop information bulletins for staff.
Training
L’Hôpital Montfort et ses partenaires s’engagent à offrir une formation à tous ses membres du personnel (incluant les médecins et bénévoles) sur les exigences relatives aux personnes en situation de handicap prévues dans la législation ontarienne sur l’accessibilité et dans le Code des droits de la personne de l’Ontario.
Initiatives that Hôpital Montfort and its partners plan to implement to comply with training standards:
- Deliver training to new employees during general orientation.
- Deliver training to existing staff (accessibility and Human Rights Code) through the LMS in light of changes to client service standards.
Designing Public Spaces
Hôpital Montfort and its partners support legislation on accessibility in 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 public spaces.
Initiatives that Hôpital Montfort and its partners plan to implement to comply with standards governing the design of public places:
- Add a few more accessible parking spaces in the visitor parking lot;
- Consider accessibility principles in planning for the Orleans Health Hub;
- Install panic buttons in public washrooms.
7. Review and Follow-up Process
The Committee will meet at least four times a year to examine the report and monitor progress in order to ensure that barrier elimination and prevention strategies are duly implemented according to the timeframes provided. As needed, group members may meet with associations of people with disabilities.
8. Communications
The Accessibility Plan of Hôpital Montfort and its partners can be downloaded from the hospital’s Internet site. Printed copies are available upon request from the Quality & Risk Management Branch (613-746-4621, ext. 2034) or the Communications Department (613-746-4621, ext. 2014). Copies are also available in other formats (on CD, in large font or braille), depending on needs expressed by clients.
The plan has also been shared with staff through committees, the Journal Montfort and the Portail des employés computer portal.
Appendix 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, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical co-ordination, blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech impediment, or physical reliance on a guide dog or other animal or on a wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device; a condition of mental impairment 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 disorder; or, 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. There are many kinds of barriers: architectural or structural, information or communications, behavioural, technological, or policies and practices