Saint Elizabeth Health Care
By Louise Chatterton Luchuk
January 26, 2009
MARKHAM, ON // When you scan the website for Saint Elizabeth Health Care, two words pop out: innovation and imagination. As they head into their 101st year as an organization, Shirlee Sharkee, president and CEO, describes what those two words mean to Saint Elizabeth and how they are putting them into action.
While innovation has been a key value for many years, Sharkee explains that imagination is a recent term added to the vocabulary of Saint Elizabeth's. As they celebrated their 100th anniversary, they found themselves talking about how they imagined the next 100 years. Says Sharkee, "That's what you need when you are trying to position for the future with your services. Rather than just saying to people that they need to change, you say, "Let's imagine care...Let's imagine what can take place."
Asking those types of questions creates a positive energy that works for Saint Elizabeth. It frees them up to look at the future and really imagine the opportunities it can bring. Sharkee believes more of this is needed in health care because so much planning is based on resolving the problems of the past. Yes, you need to learn from the past but what's even more fundamental when planning for the future is capitalizing on opportunities, imagining what the future could look like and then creating it.
What is Saint Elizabeth imagining right now?
There are a lot of opportunities right now with information and communication that excite Sharkee. She is careful with her language, though, and avoids using the word "technology" because people get nervous about technology and whether it will replace the human touch in health care. Instead, St. Elizabeth's imagines how they can help their staff - largely virtual, mobile workers - with tools that put information at their fingertips. They are also looking at things from a client and family point of view and how to help people participate in their own health care in new ways. That has the organization imagining ways to help better prepare clients for visits and how digital photography can be tapped for wound care and other types of specialized care.
It's at that point that imagination intersects with innovation. Saint Elizabeth Health Care strives to respond to the diversity of people in their homes requiring health care. "Those environment issues really push us to come up with solutions that are customized. Innovation is a huge engine to help us be as responsive as we can," explains Sharkee. Innovation at Saint Elizabeth Health Care involves:
- Engaging everyone in the creation and realization of great ideas.
- Building creative work spaces to stimulate the intellect and imagination.
- Pioneering new services and approaches to meet the evolving needs of individuals and families.
- Extending their impact nationally and internationally by supporting other health organizations and the people they serve.
Creating an organizational culture that encourages innovation
A snapshot of... |
Who: Saint Elizabeth Health Care
Mandate/Mission: To serve to physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of individuals and families in their homes and communities
Location: Markham, Ontario (programs and services offered nationally)
When established: 1908
Number of staff: 4,000
Number of volunteers: 10 (independent, volunteer board)
Budget: $160 million annually
Awards won: Canada Awards for Excellence Bronze recognition for Organizational Quality & Healthy Workplace®; National Health Care Safety Award; Best Employers in Canada; Canadian Nurses' Association Employer Recognition Award; and Markham Board of Trade Innovation Award and Company of the Year. Click here for a complete list.
Videos posted online here.
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Innovation is a popular word, so how exactly does Saint Elizabeth's approach the idea of innovation? Typically, people associate health care with the hospital, but what Sharkee hopes is that, with new innovative approaches, Saint Elizabeth will build people's confidence about receiving care in their home. "We have a different slant on innovation," remarks Sharkee. "Most companies think of innovation as finding new markets in order to be sustainable. Certainly, that's an outcome for us, but it's not the driving engine.
We look at innovation as a driver for our mission, to be as responsive as we can and provide the services that are needed."
When they first began to focus on innovation, about 10 years ago, Saint Elizabeth's created an Idea Factory. It was a physical space set aside and furnished to encourage creative thinking. After a few years, it evolved into a phenomenon called "School of Thought." Designed to encourage a "hub of exchange," the School of Thought creates a boundary-free environment for conferences, learning events, meetings, and social gatherings. Featuring wide-open spaces, high ceilings, and natural light to inspire imagination and enthusiasm, the space is designed to be functional, practical and versatile. Conference rooms are equipped with state-of-the-art teleconferencing, audio visual and high-speed wireless technology, and can be configured in a variety of formats.
Sharkee is very particular with her words and refers to the School of Thought as a 'phenomenon'. "Most people like to describe things as a location or as a person. In this case, there is a physical location called the School of Thought and it does have people - the learning group within our organization. However, with so many of our staff being mobile, I don't like to limit the School of Thought to a location. It is more than that. That's why I call it a phenomenon."
Innovation at Saint Elizabeth's...and beyond
As part of the School of Thought, there is the Care to Know Institute. The title is a deliberate play on words to describe what is at the heart of this national knowledge exchange network of Saint Elizabeth Health Care. It is described as a collaborative approach that seeks to mobilize input and to create effective linkages and exchange among individuals, caregivers, researchers, policy, and management stakeholders. The aim of the Care to Know Institute is to identify and investigate new models, procedures, and policies to ensure a shared approach for quality health care is achieved. Through this Institute, Saint Elizabeth's has funded $1.5 million to help initiate innovation and thinking in the community by giving seed funding to other organizations that are doing forms of innovation. Sharkee underscores that this is the way to grow and develop: "We initially started with our innovation and we're now trying to share that and actually fund other organizations that are moving into this area."
In an organization that is so deliberate about being innovative and using its imagination, their message going into the next 100 years is not surprising. Sharkee will tell you that, as an organization, they've seen the future of health care…and it has throw pillows. Instead of saying health care is so important and people need homecare, they've imagined a visual picture of the future and will strive to be innovative in order to turn that picture into reality.
Louise Chatterton Luchuk is a freelance writer and consultant who combines her love of writing with experience at the local, provincial and national levels of volunteer-involving organizations. For more information, visit www.luchuk.com.
Would you like to see your organization in the Spotlight? E-mail Nicole at editor@charityvillage.com with your suggestions.
