What’s the Plan?

I am a planner.   I like to have my days organized, as there hardly seems like enough time in the day to get everything done.   I find setting a few goals for the day or the week, whether it is work-related, exercise goals or just planning to spend time with family and friends helps me make sure I stay focused on what is important.

As an organization, having a plan is critical for OSMH to stay focused on what is most important.  The OSMH Board and Senior Team have started the process of redefining our strategy for the upcoming three to five years, with two particular areas of emphasis.

OSMH must continue to provide hospital care, serving our local community and beyond with our regional programs.   This is our core business.  We need to ensure we continue to look after both our patients who require care in our organization as well as our teams who provide excellent compassionate care every day.

OSMH is also part of a larger system.   With the recent changes in healthcare policy and the successful application of the Couchiching Ontario Health Team (OHT), we have a unique opportunity to rethink how we view the health of a community along with our partners.   This was made clear when over 30 organizations and agencies associated with the Couchiching OHT  came together several months ago to create a shared purpose,

“We are a community that is committed to improving health and wellbeing.  Together, we will achieve our goal through system co-design in a culturally safe and meaningful way.”

We are trying a different approach to strategic planning at OSMH.   Our goal is to not only create a strategy that will inspire OSMH to achieve its full potential, but also engage the entire OSMH team including board members, staff, credentialed staff and volunteers in co-designing our future.   Over the next few months, we hope to reach out to as many people within and outside OSMH to better understand the opportunities that exist.   As we report back our progress on our plan, my hope is everyone takes the opportunity to let us know your thoughts to help us shape our plan.   We all have a part to play in the ongoing success of OSMH.

Strategy is all about making choices on what to focus on.  We appreciate there is more than enough work to be done, but hope that by identifying a few key directions of focus, we can excel in the areas that matter most.  Former New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra said it best, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

-Carmine.