Every day at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), our team members are caring for patients, supporting families, teaching learners, and advancing research. Alongside that work, LHSC has been taking important steps to strengthen how the hospital operates behind the scenes so it can better support care now and into the future.
During the past year, we shared the results of a third-party organizational review, which took an in-depth look at the hospital’s governance, leadership, finances, and how clinical and non-clinical programs function. That review resulted in 169 recommendations aimed at improving how we lead and manage our hospital, how we operate, and how we support our people.
We’ve combined those recommendations with the feedback received through our Community Advisory Committee’s (CAC) staff and community surveys, and teams across LHSC are now working together to bring these recommendations to life over the next three years. Most of these projects are already well underway, and 96 have been completed over the past year.
Many of the changes are focused on strengthening the foundations of how the hospital operates. This includes improving financial practices, enhancing transparency and decision-making, and ensuring leaders across the organization have the tools and information they need to guide their teams effectively. Other efforts are centred on improving access to care by strengthening processes like patient flow and discharge planning to help ensure patients receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
Some of these changes will be visible over time. Others will remain largely behind the scenes. But all are focused on the same outcome: creating a stronger system that better supports the people delivering care and the patients and families who rely on it.
The progress achieved this year is particularly noteworthy given the major changes happening across the organization through organizational renewal work. As outlined in the Supervisor’s Interim Report, LHSC has been working through significant updates to its governance, operations, finances and culture, while continuing to deliver care, advance research, and train future health professionals. Throughout this time, thousands of LHSC team members remained focused on what matters most: providing safe, compassionate, high-quality care to patients and families. Their professionalism and commitment have been instrumental in maintaining services while helping position LHSC for a stronger future.
Strengthening an organization takes time. It requires sustained effort, clear priorities, and a willingness to look closely at what needs to change. Looking ahead, LHSC is moving into the next step of its renewal. With the proper governance structures now in place, recruitment for a new Board of Directors is underway.
David Musyj, Supervisor
Important work remains, but Board recruitment marks an important step toward the future: one where stronger oversight, clearer accountability, and better systems help support great care for the communities LHSC serves.