Our Strategic Directions

• Make quality the foundation of everything we do

KHSC will create a robust culture of quality by building a roadmap to prioritize quality aims, training our teams to engage in quality improvement and aligning their work to areas that will make the biggest difference to our communities. As a result of this work, staff will have the support that they need to make quality improvement a part of their daily work and KHSC will benchmark as a high performer amongst Ontario’s academic hospitals and on Health Quality Ontario’s dimensions of quality.

• Ensure smooth transitions in care for patients and families across our regional health-care system

We want all of our patients and their families to have better access to and transitions in care. We will continue working with our health system partners to create regional care pathways that address the priority health needs of the people who live in this region. As a result of this work, patients and families, including those who are vulnerable and marginalized, will have better access to and transitions in care and they will experience the same standard of quality no matter where they seek care in the region.

• Lead the evolution of people-centred care

We will continue to partner with patients and families on all decisions that have an impact on the patient experience in our hospital. As a result of this work, patients and families will be full partners in their care teams, and in the work we do as an academic health sciences centre. We will continue to work with our communities to understand their unique health care needs and to ensure that the care we provide is culturally sensitive and respects diversity.

• Create the space for better care

We must invest in our spaces and keep pace with technology in order to maintain our high standards of care and facilitate better flow of information for enhanced safety, convenience and care coordination. During the life of this plan, we will launch major improvements to our physical environment as we modernize our KGH site and make facility improvements at the HDH site. Our communities will be inspired to provide philanthropic support through donations to the University Hospitals Kingston Foundation. This will help ensure that we contribute the required local share for this important project.

• KHSC has a robust culture of quality where adherence to standards and evidence-based practice drives decision-making in every program and service
• KHSC benchmarks as a high performer amongst Ontario teaching hospitals, delivering outcomes that matter to patients and families at the best cost
• KHSC works with community partners to deliver integrated, team-based, people-centred care. 
• People will have better access to in-person and virtual care and safe, supportive transitions from one provider to another 
• People and communities are partners in designing people-centred models of care, research and teaching
• Our communities are inspired to provide philanthropic support for hospital modernization

• Build a quality framework that aligns clinical processes and financial  investments with quality standards, evidence-based practices and targeted improvements that drive outcomes and care experiences that matter to the people we serve
• Develop integrated clinical pathways to improve patient care and keep people healthy in their homes and communities across Southeastern Ontario
  and beyond
• Care for patients in the environment that best suits their needs in collaboration with community health and social service providers
• Partner with the people we serve in designing people-centred models of care, research and teaching
• Build safe, modern facilities for complex, acute and specialty care, research and teaching

• Foster a safe, healthy, innovative working environment that inspires and motivates the people who work, learn and volunteer at KHSC

We are committed to implementing innovative people practices to enhance joy in work so that KHSC has a stable, engaged workforce where people find meaning in what they do. We will enhance our culture of safety so that everyone who works, learns and volunteers at KHSC feels safe and supported every day. And, we work hard to create a positive, engaging environment where our people report high rates of wellness at work.

• Empower and develop our people

We will enhance support for ongoing education so that our people are properly equipped to do their best work.

• Develop confident caring and capable leaders

We will provide time, support and opportunities for leaders to learn, develop and grow so that our leaders stay highly engaged.

• KHSC has a stable, engaged work force
• Our people report improved wellness at work
• KHSC has a strong culture of safety
• Our people are equipped to do their best work
• Our leaders are highly engaged

• Develop a framework and strategy for enhancing Psychological Health & Safety in the workplace.

• Continue to cross-train staff across clinical areas.

• Enhance learning for new and emerging leaders.

• Be a hospital beyond our walls that delivers complex, acute and specialty care where and when it is needed most

We will improve access to care across the region by placing our experts and services where they are needed most in the community and by including community, health and social service partners as active members of our inter-professional care, research and teaching teams. We will also work with our hospital partners to transform clinical processes here at KHSC and across our region through the implementation of a regional Hospital Information System. As a result of this work, there will be one patient information system that supports a coordinated patient journey throughout our regional health care system.

• Discover and apply innovations that improve patient outcomes and make our communities healthy

We are establishing an innovation portfolio that will identify and support key areas that are aligned to regional population health needs. As a result of this work, we will implement innovations that improve patient outcomes, while establishing key areas of excellence for which KHSC becomes renowned.

• Together with FLA OHT partners, KHSC delivers proactive, evidence-based care for patients with chronic conditions.
• KHSC specialty care services are smoothly connected to other parts of the health-care system.
• We have one, accessible, information system that supports a coordinated patient journey.
• KHSC identifies several key areas of excellence that align with regional population health needs.

• Lead the development and adoption of new models of integrated, team-based care that include community health and social service partners as active partners in our multidisciplinary care, research and teaching teams
• Take our care beyond the walls of KHSC by placing our experts and services where they are needed most in the community
• Enable clinical transformation through the implementation of a regional Health Information System
• Establish an innovation portfolio that responds to the unique health needs of our regional population

• Foster a culture of teaching, learning, research and scholarship.

KHSC strives to be a leader in the evolution of inter-professional education, as well as being an academic hospital that supports a patient-centred curriculum and research projects that are aligned with regional population health needs. We will work together with our educational partners to plan and deliver the highest quality learning experience. In partnership with our research institutes, we will engage southeastern Ontario as a living laboratory for patient-oriented research and our communities will be inspired to provide philanthropic support for research. Supported through a formal organizational learning portfolio, we will build a strong brand as a centre for teaching, learning and scholarship. As a result of this work, our learners will report high satisfaction with the learning environment at KHSC, placement opportunities will align with our region’s health care needs and research discoveries will benefit patients and families across our region.

• KHSC has a coordinated plan for all clinical learners, including nursing, allied health and medical students and residents
• Enhanced research activities lead to novel discoveries that transform clinical care for our patient population
• KHSC and its research institute become nationally recognized for people-centred research and innovation excellence

• Advance multidisciplinary education
• Create structures with our educational partners that help us to plan and deliver high quality education together
• Proactively engage our communities in people-centred research in partnership with our research institute

• Create an inclusive environment for patients, families and everyone who works, learns and volunteers at KHSC

KHSC is on a journey to address the gaps and needs toward achieving the overall goal of Inclusion, which inherently involves improving diversity, equity, access to opportunities, acknowledgement, recognition, and celebration of our people, regardless of who they are or where they are coming from.  To further these initiatives and create a sense of safety and belonging for KHSC staff, patients, families and everyone who works, learns and volunteers.

• KHSC offers a culturally safe care environment that values and respects diversity

• Implement our plan to improve culturally safe care for Francophone and Indigenous populations
• Implement our integrated inclusion framework