To the communities we serve:
At London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), we are proud to be your hospital. Every day, we have the privilege of caring for you and your families — and we take that responsibility to heart.
While our team has never wavered in providing great care, we’ve been honest that our hospital has challenges. We have a budget deficit, we’ve experienced consistent changes in leadership, and we’ve faced some challenges in managing our growing population. But with challenge comes opportunity and the chance to evolve, and that’s the work we’re focused on today.
With the support of Ontario Health and the Ministry of Health, and through my role as Supervisor, we’ve been working as a team at LHSC to improve. It’s not easy and it’s not happening overnight, but we’re proud of the progress we’re making and today I’m happy to share an update about the next step in our journey.
Last fall, we began what’s called a detailed organizational review, which is a close examination of how we operate behind the scenes. This review, led by an independent third party, looked closely at everything from our leadership, governance, and how we manage our finances, to how we run both our clinical and non-clinical programs.
Why did we do this? To identify opportunities for improvement and financial recovery, and lay the groundwork for a healthier organization that can continue to deliver the exceptional care our patients deserve, not just today, but for many years to come.
The review is now complete, and we are moving forward with a clear, focused plan. A total of 169 recommendations were made, grouped into nine key areas. These recommendations are aimed at improving how we lead and manage our hospital, how we operate, and how we support the people and processes behind the scenes that make quality care possible.
We will be implementing all the recommendations over the next three years and are currently forming working group committees across our hospital to lead this implementation. The work is also aligned to our recently announced Community Advisory Committee (CAC) Surveys Report and Action Plan, ensuring a coordinated and thoughtful path forward for our hospital.
You may be wondering what this means to you. In some ways, the work will be largely invisible to you. I want to be clear that this is not about the quality of the care we provide at LHSC. We heard recently through our CAC Survey that you know you’re receiving great care from our team. This work is instead about strengthening the work of our hospital that happens behind the scenes – the work that allows our team to deliver the care you rely on. It’s about making sure our team can continue delivering great care to our community for generations to come.
In other ways, we hope you’ll start to see some subtle but important changes at LHSC. We will be improving our finances, leading to better financial health that will eventually translate to improvements in areas like equipment and facilities. We will be renewing our Board of Directors and eventually recruiting for a President and CEO, with a commitment to ongoing transparency and open communication with our community. And we’ll also be working on key areas like patient access and flow to improve timely access to the care you need.
This kind of work takes time, and it isn’t always easy. But it’s important. And we want you to know that we’re in it together — staff, physicians, leaders, and community — all working toward the same goal: a healthier, stronger hospital for everyone who relies on us.
Throughout this ongoing improvement journey, one thing has remained constant: the unwavering commitment of our staff and physicians, and the incredible support we continue to receive from you – our community.
Thank you for standing by us as we do the hard work of making our hospital even stronger. We’re honoured to care for you, and we’re committed to doing everything we can to continue earning your trust, every single day.
Sincerely,
David Musyj
Supervisor
London Health Sciences Centre
519-870-2999
david.musyj@lhsc.on.ca