Message from CEO and Board Chair
As we look back on the year 2022, we are inspired by the way VHA’s team members rose to meet the challenges that we faced. The year started with the most challenging wave of COVID-19 – Omicron – which was felt across the health system with a high burden of illness and significantly reduced health human resources capacity. It was no different in home care. All levels of leadership at VHA came together to ensure we continued to have the right infection prevention and control practices in place to protect our clients, families and our team members, to make difficult but necessary decisions to ensure those who needed us most received care and to quickly put a team in place that was dedicated to being in continuous communication with all of our clients, families and funders on the state of the situation. While this wave of COVID eventually passed, the shortage of health and home care workers continued well into the year (and indeed we haven’t fully recovered yet) which required considerable efforts and creative approaches to managing the increased demand for health and personal care outside of institutions.
Despite these issues, we were able to drive our work forward through collaboration, innovative solutions and focused effort on our mission of creating possibilities for more independence, championing the needs of our clients and families and delivering high quality, integrated care. Over the course of the year, we helped/provided services for more than 113,000 clients through over 3.5 million episodes of care.
Dr. Kathryn Nichol
President & CEO
Ian Brunskill
Board Chair
An important area of VHA’s focus for the last several years has been helping to prepare for and build a more integrated healthcare system in Ontario and, in 2022, we had significant achievements in this area. We were proud to be involved in 18 Ontario Health Teams and numerous integrated care initiatives with leading healthcare organizations including University Health Network, Michael Garron Hospital and The Hospital for Sick Children. These initiatives, which help keep Ontarians out of hospital and safe in their homes and communities, demonstrate the essential role home care plays in our healthcare sector.
We were so proud to work with a group of clients, families and caregivers to bring our client portal myVHA to life in 2022. We know the portal will make communicating with our team, viewing schedules and accessing information so much easier for clients, families and staff. Take a look at our 2022 Client Voice Report to learn more about how including the expertise and experience of our clients has benefitted the care and services we provide.
2022 also saw great progress in achieving our research vision of using our data to drive evidence-informed improvements to how home care is delivered, investing in powerful partnerships to maximize our impact and to creating home care scientists that will shape our future. Please take a moment to read about this exciting work in VHA’s Research and Innovation Report 2022.
As ever, our people are at the heart of all we do, and in a year such as this, the supports VHA provided to our team members were more important than ever.
We were really pleased to introduce a new Employee and Family Assistance program that was focused on mental health and wellness through a virtual-first and employee choice model. We invite you to have a look at VHA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report that celebrates the diversity of our team and the efforts we have taken to build and sustain a culture of inclusion. In 2022, we were so pleased to be able to hold our first in-person staff and service provider recognition event in three years to honour and celebrate the spectacular care that our team provides to their clients and families.
Our VHA team includes a dynamic and diverse Board of Directors comprised of thirteen dedicated volunteers who commit their time, expertise and intelligence to ensuring VHA is a fiscally and operationally sound, strategically-focused social enterprise. In 2022, our Board undertook a thorough review of our governance practices to ensure we have the proper governance in place to support a stable foundation while also positioning VHA to take a proactive approach to the changes and opportunities that lie ahead.
With the challenges and accomplishments of 2022 in our rear view mirror, we are excited for the year to come. We look forward to all we will achieve together and the valuable contributions we will make to the health and lives of our clients and families and to our health system in the year ahead.