Honouring the past, celebrating the present, building the future
2024-2028 Strategic Plan (See the document in PDF format)
To deliver health care in French to a rapidly growing population of suburban Ottawa: that was the starting point that led the Daughters of Wisdom to establish Hôpital Montfort in 1953. Although deeply rooted in the Francophonie, Montfort has become a beacon to the communities of Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, regardless of their identity, language or origin. The whole region depends on Montfort’s success.
Who would have thought
over 70 years ago, that Montfort would become a leading-edge academic health sciences centre proudly affiliated with the University of Ottawa and named on the list of Canada’s 40 major research hospitals, or recognized by Newsweek magazine as one of the 50 best hospitals in Canada and 1,000 best in the world, the recipient of three consecutive accreditations with exemplary standing, the highest distinction issued by Accreditation Canada?
Who would have thought
that Monfort would become home to the Canadian Forces Health Services Centre – Ottawa, a 128-bed long-term care facility, the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub in Orléans, an assertive community treatment team, a mental health service centre in Rockland, an extensive telemedicine program, a contributor to the Montfort family health academic team, and co-founder of Montfort Renaissance?
It took audacity to accomplish all that, and it will take more to reinvent our future.
Defining Our Future
We are now in 2024. A pandemic has challenged health services to their core. All North American hospitals are struggling with human resource challenges. Artificial intelligence is asserting a role in clinical activities, research and education. Demographics are changing quickly. Hospitals have a critical role to play in shrinking our ecological footprint. Amid all this upheaval, we have to transform and make decisions about our future.
For the first time, three organizations belonging to the larger Montfort family will be guided by a unique strategy:
Hôpital Montfort is Ontario’s Francophone academic hospital and offers services in French and English;
The Institut du Savoir Montfort is responsible for research, education and continuous professional development activities;
Santé Montfort is licensed to operate Montfort’s 128-bed long-term care centre, manage its partnership with the Canadian Forces Health Services Centre – Ottawa, operate commercial services at Montfort and manage Ottawa-based assets.
The Season of Ideas
In developing this strategic plan, the boards of directors of Hôpital Montfort, the Institut du Savoir Montfort and Santé Montfort engaged in an extensive consultation process internally, within the city of Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, and across the province given that our provincial mandate is to:
- Participate in planning and supporting French-language health services, including clinical support for patients and health professionals in communities across Ontario;
- Support the Government of Ontario in meeting its obligations under the French Language Services Act;
- Serve as a centre of excellence and a hub for training health care professionals in French, while ensuring the stability and coordination of clinical placements in French;
- Support research and teaching activities worthy of a university hospital.
From February to April 2024, over 1,300 people took part in 80 internal and external consultations, public conferences, meetings with physicians and primary care providers, researchers and academic partners. They also responded to online surveys. Targeted meetings were held with health sector and Francophone partners. These events took place in Vanier, Orléans, west Ottawa, Embrun, Clarence-Rockland, Toronto, London, Thunder Bay, Timmins, Kapuskasing and Hearst.
Later, in the summer of 2024, over 300 members of our teams and the public took part in validating a draft of the 2024-28 strategic plan.
We wish to thank our 2,800 employees, physicians, researchers and volunteers, as well as the 1,600 learners who train annually at Montfort, as well as our partners and communities, for helping to shape our future.
The Future is Now
You will find this future in our Strategic Plan 2024-2028, which will guide us to the 75th anniversary of Montfort that we will celebrate in October 2028. This plan was designed with you and for you. Now, it is your turn to make it your own!
Five fundamental principles guide our activities: :
- Patients first: quality and safety;
- Continuous improvement and evidence-based leadership;
- Solidarity with our communities, teams and partners, consistent with the solidarity they demonstrated with Montfort;
- Sustainable development and a reduced ecological footprint for future generations;
- Recognition and respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples.
In alignment with provincial priorities and regional needs, the plan consists of:
- An inspiring, shared vision;
- Separate missions that allow Hôpital Montfort, Institut du Savoir Montfort and Santé Montfort to excel;
- Values that guide our decisions, interaction with colleagues and behaviour toward patients, partners and the communities that we serve;
- Five key goals and 17 outcomes to be achieved by 2028.
Our shared vision
A BOLD FRANCOPHONIE FOR HEALTHY COMMUNITIES
Our Missions
Our Values
Provide exemplary person- and community-centred care, as Ontario's francophone academic hospital.
Mutual Support
Compassion
Respect
Excellence
Equity
Be a unique francophone environment combining teaching, research and innovation in healthcare.
Innovation
Excellence
Creativity
Agility
Be a strategic partner in promoting the well-being of our communities.
Collaboration
Excellence
Innovation
Creativity
By adopting these values, we are committing to:
Mutual support
By helping each other (individuals, teams and organizations) achieve common goals.
Compassion
By showing empathy and concern for others.
Respect
By recognizing the value of each individual (their rights, opinions, differences, qualities, etc.).
Excellence
Through outstanding performance, effective and consistent results, continuous quality improvements in all forms, such as ties with our communities, accessibility, safety, person-centred services, continuity, relevance and service efficiency.
Equity
Through specific measures that take account of people’s unique experiences in order to achieve fair outcomes free from all forms of discrimination.
Innovation
By creating value through new ideas, methods or services to meet existing or emerging needs.
Creativity
By thinking outside the box and coming up with original or forward-thinking ideas and solutions.
Agility :
By showing flexibility and the capacity to adapt to change in a constantly evolving environment.
Collaboration :
By working together in a coordinated way toward a common goal, and by sharing ideas, resources and efforts
Five Key Goals and 17 Outcomes to Achieve by 2028
Throughout its history, Montfort has shown incredible audacity. Recognizing the audacity it showed in the past and that it needs to show again as it transforms into its future self, we have made it part of our vision.
Over the next four years, we must demonstrate audacity to achieve our five key goals:
- Serve a growing and aging population;
- Expand French-language services;
- Strengthen our social accountability;
- Enhance the impact of education and research;
- Innovate to remain a sought-after environment.
Two to four outcomes have been set for each of these five key goals.
Serve a growing and aging population
To meet the growing and complex needs of a diverse population, we will take a proactive, multidisciplinary approach with our partners to serve 210,000 more patients in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario within the next 10 years, including 80,000 persons aged 65 and over.
By 2028, we will have:
- Optimized the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub, namely by adding a clinic for patients without a family doctor;
- Developed a network of primary care providers with privileges at Montfort, who will receive personalized support in eliminating current irritants;
- Secured ministry approvals for phase 1 of the hospital’s redevelopment, which includes adding beds, eliminating rooms for more than two patients, renovating neonatal intensive care, enhancing teaching and critical care spaces and reducing our environmental footprint;
- Enhanced the services available in our medical departments by expanding access to certain specialties and 24/7 coverage based on operational needs.
Expand French-language services
We will increase access to services in French to better serve our communities, knowing that receiving health care in one’s mother tongue is beneficial for health. Through close and active collaboration with other health care institutions, we will create partnerships that reinforce the services provided in French and transform the patient experience across the entire health sector.
By 2028, we will have:
- Enhanced our delivery of health care in specific specialities, in French, to meet the needs of patients in predetermined regions of Ontario;
- Opened primary care services in French in Ottawa’s west-end, in partnership with primary care providers;
- Planned the opening of additional Francophone long-term care beds in Ottawa.
Strengthen our social accountability
In recognizing our social accountability toward the wide-range of communities that we serve, we will offer services suited to the needs of vulnerable populations to create a more equitable and inclusive healthcare system while reducing health disparities.
By 2028, we will have:
- Improved the patient experience by introducing culturally appropriate practices, geared toward reconciliation with Indigenous communities and inclusive of the various populations we serve;
- Ensured greater representation and diversity within our boards of directors and our leadership;
- Opened a multidisciplinary addiction service.
Enhance the impact of education and research
We will cultivate next-generation knowledge for future-oriented care with an emphasis on multidisciplinary activity and knowledge transfers across different sectors of clinical activity. We will capitalize on Montfort’s status as one of Ontario’s largest hospitals in terms of obstetrical and mental health beds, with recognized programs in family medicine and orthopedic surgery, among others.
By 2028, we will have:
- Increased the number of Francophone learners in the health sector through enhanced collaboration with our partner postsecondary institutions;
- Increased the volume and quality of our research activities with the aim of disseminating new knowledge to improve care.
Innovate to remain a sought-after environment
In the context of a health care labour shortage, we will cultivate a positive environment with priority placed on employee well-being. By supporting our teams in a stimulating, caring environment, we will retain our talent while delivering quality care with empathy and professionalism.
By 2028, we will have:
- Implemented greater workplace flexibility and professional development initiatives;
- Implemented the Epic electronic health record system to improve our clinician and patient experience;
- Lightened the administrative load on staff and optimized our range of services by incorporating artificial intelligence tools;
- Achieved recognition as one the few Canadian hospitals to have achieved the highest distinction under the Choosing Wisely initiative which promotes the efficient use of resources and climate action;
- Created partnerships with businesses to encourage innovation and meet the needs of our communities.
Our Communities – Closing Thoughts
This strategic plan was designed with the health and well-being of our communities in mind, including the local and provincial communities that we serve, the medical community that we work with closely, the community of partners whose close collaboration is vital to us, and our teams, which form a supportive community that we often refer to as the Montfort family.
Over the next four years, this strategic plan will dictate our priorities and allow Hôpital Montfort, Institut du Savoir Montfort and Santé Montfort to transform without sacrificing our identity, as we continue the inspiring journey that started in 1953.
Each of the three boards of directors will reassess the strategic plan’s relevance on an annual basis to ensure that we remain constantly proactive in response to emerging trends in the health sector and in our communities.
During our search for new ideas, we have reached out to you to understand your needs and challenges. Now that these ties have been reinforced, we hope to maintain an open dialogue with you throughout the next four years. Please stay tuned. We will be organizing occasional public events to keep you updated on the progress of a strategy that belongs to all of us.