Trillium Health Centre�s staff often reviews personal goals with patients on white boards in their rooms.

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Trillium Health Centre is more than a hospital corporation for President and CEO Janet Davidson.
“It’s actually a wonderful group of people that are focused on transforming the healthcare experience [by] focusing on patient-centered care, quality, innovation and safety,” she states.

It is this goal that governs the entire Trillium hospital system, Davidson says. For instance, its staff often reviews personal goals with patients on white boards in their rooms. “[We’re] really trying to put the patient at the center of the experience and [work] with them to ensure their care is the best it can be,” she states.

Forming Trillium
Trillium is the product of the merger of two hospitals, the Mississauga Hospital in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and the Queensway General Hospital in Toronto. The two combined in 1998 to form Trillium.

Today, Trillium still operates both locations. While its Toronto hospital is a large, ambulatory facility, its Mississauga hospital is primarily an inpatient facility. “We have about 41,000 inpatient admissions a year, and almost 300,000 ambulatory visits,” Davidson adds.

Strong Support
The keys to Trillium’s success, she says, are people. “Everyone in the organization [is committed to] providing patient-centered care,” she says. “People like working here.”

The hospital also gets strong community support, Davidson adds. “We have over 1,100 volunteers working on our two sites,” she says, noting that Trillium enjoys many sponsors in its local community. Examples of this support, Davidson says, include the sponsorship of fundraising events for hospital capital projects, as well as equipment. “They’re big supporters of us,” Davidson continues. “It is all about the people, whether it’s our own people or people in the community.”

Breaking Barriers
Trillium is undergoing more than $100 million worth of capital redevelopment projects at two locations, Davidson says. At its Mississauga site, the hospital is constructing a new seven-story inpatient wing that will be completed in March 2009.

The new wing will feature rooms that are designed to be more like a home environment. For instance, “Every patient [will have] a window view,” she says. “There’s private washroom accesses for all the patients,” she says. “It’s really [focused] on how you create far less barriers [for] a more institutional approach.”

Creating a Warm Environment
At Trillium’s Toronto site, the hospital plans to expand with a healing garden atrium featuring plants and open space that will connect several sections of the building. Trillium’s new atrium will enable the Toronto hospital to deliver care to patients in a “more warm, welcoming environment,” Davidson says.

“[It is] not a traditional notion of what a hospital is,” Davidson continues. “We really looked at how [you can] integrate creative architecture.”

Improving Trillium
Energy efficiency is an area of focus for Trillium, Davidson says. “For instance, Trillium has been recognized as a leader in sustainable energy practices,” Davidson says, noting that examples of the hospital’s sustainable practices include the elimination of mercury from equipment used in the treatment of patients.

In addition, Davidson says, Trillium reduced the amount of waste it sent to a landfill by 30 percent over the course of year, by introducing recycling programs at both sites. Davidson adds that the hospital also achieved ISO 14001 certification for environmental standards. “We continue to look at ways [in which] we can improve that,” she says.

Technology is another area of concentration. In the last several years, Trillium has focused on developing an IT platform so it has “the ability to adapt to whatever new things might be coming down the pike,” Davidson says. She adds that these developments can include an electronic record that incorporates patient information that is shared or exchanged between family physicians and acute inpatient centers.

In addition, the hospital is developing a patient portal that will support chronic disease management, Davidson says. With the system, “patients can access [the portal to] get information about their health status,” she explains, adding that this allows patients to self-manage their own care.

Charting Its Course
Davidson joined Trillium last March. “I’m a nurse by background,” she says, noting that she trained in nursing in Toronto and holds a graduate degree in health administration. “Being able to help people is really important to me,” Davidson says.

Trillium has received awards for its work. For instance, last year, the hospital received the Silver Award at the 2007 Canada Awards for Excellence from the National Quality Institute. In addition, in 2006, the hospital received Ontario’s first Innovation Award for Improving Quality and Patient Safety from Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care George Smitherman.

“Hard work and an ongoing dedication to excellence define Trillium Health Centre and the people who work there,” he said in a statement. “Trillium’s example is helping to chart the innovative course that healthcare is taking in the 21st century, and they are extremely deserving of this award.”

Davidson states Trillium will stay on this course and improve its level of care as it goes forward.
“[We will continue] to transform the healthcare experience,” she predicts.