Quality Patient Care
At Mount Sinai Hospital, our patients come first: through leading-edge care that combines clinical excellence with compassion, pioneering research that improves and saves lives, and in our role as an academic health centre responsible for training the next generation of health care professionals.

Mount Sinai is one of the first health care institutions in Canada to integrate clinical practice and research into Centres of Excellence, which include the Lawrence and Frances Bloomberg Centre for Women’s and Infants’ Health; the Christopher Sharp Centre for Surgery and Oncology; the Centre for Acute and Chronic Medicine; the Centre for Laboratory Medicine and Infection Control; and the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital.

The following examples demonstrate how research and clinical care intersect to enhance the care provided in Women’s and Infants’ program:

Mount Sinai’s Dr. Greg Ryan, Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialist, was the first surgeon in Canada to perform in utero laser surgery that corrects Twin-to-Twin Syndrome, a condition often fatal to one or both fetuses.

Today, thanks to research done at Mount Sinai, we can more easily identify false labour, administer drugs less frequently, and reduce unnecessary admissions to hospital.

In other areas, Dr. Steven Gallinger made international headlines for his work on a team that made a groundbreaking colon cancer finding that has the potential to change how people are screened for the disease. Neurobiologist Dr. John Roder demonstrated for the first time that schizophrenia can be caused by a malfunctioning gene. Dr. Sue Quaggin discovered a gene central for the development of the kidneys, heart, and lungs, significant to development of new treatments for kidney disease.

We also believe that we can improve the patient experience by engaging patients and their families in the development of service improvements, policies and physical design. More than 100 members of our staff have been trained at the Institute for Family-Centred Care, which is devoted to this philosophy.

This year, we established a Patient Safety Office to better coordinate, monitor and enhance our patient safety framework. Over the last few years, we have consistently scored higher than other Greater Toronto Area hospitals in patient safety satisfaction scores. And as a result of a stringent infection control program built over 20 years, Mount Sinai has had the lowest rate in the GTA for two of the most problematic hospital-based infections (MRSA and VRE). Infection control is a key focus; this year, we instituted a new and stringent hand hygiene policy.

We have defined and mentored process improvement projects, including an improved discharge process to optimize flow of patients from acute care to Alternate Level of Care (ALC); better communication of critical lab and radiology results; improved needle safety technology; reduction of surgical site infections; and ultrasound workflow optimization. More aspects of our work are being measured, and we are held accountable through a range of tools and reporting that track indicators such as patient safety, quality of care and patient satisfaction.

The foundation of our e-health strategy, Enabling the Best, is timely and accurate clinical decision-making. The Granovsky Gluskin Family Medicine Centre, for example, is one of Toronto’s first outpatient clinics to adopt a new, fully-integrated electronic patient record system that securely manages the Centre’s 10,000 patients, replaces paper charts and permits members of the health-care team to interact with patients and each other more efficiently. Electronic access to test results from the Mount Sinai laboratory and other public labs reduces redundancy and facilitates more efficient, safer care. We also expanded our hospital electronic order-entry system for laboratory and medical imaging tests in the surgical inpatient areas as well as the recovery room, providing better technology and information to over 300 new clinical users.

In addition, a team of our nurses and physicians developed the Web-based Interdisciplinary Paging System (WIPS) developed as a team effort between the departments of Medicine, Nursing, and Informatics. This technology allows clinicians to distinguish between urgent and non-urgent patient care messages to physicians, minimizing interruptions and improving physician response. WIPS was named a 2007 finalist for a Canadian Information Productivity Award.

Revitalization: Renew Sinai
Visible markers, including the presence of massive cranes atop the Hospital, make it clear that we are building for the future. Top-quality health care requires ongoing investment in physical space, and we worked closely with the provincial government to map out a much-needed capital modernization plan, Renew Sinai. We are committed to transforming the Hospital to meet the community’s needs in the years ahead.

We began construction this year on Phase One, building six new floors on top of the Murray Street tower on the west side of the Hospital. The expansion will create state-of-the-art facilities for the Bloomberg Centre for Women’s and Infants’ Health. The Valentine Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will be transformed into a series of private family spaces that facilitate the highest standards of infection control, offer more privacy for new families, and will be easily customized for twins and triplets.

Phase Two will incorporate upgrades to other parts of the Hospital, including our surgical suites, the Schwartz-Reisman Emergency Centre, critical care and patient units. The entire development is proceeding as we work in partnership with Government to receive the necessary approvals and appropriate funding - with a significant contribution from the Hospital through our Foundation.

Operational Excellence
In a dynamic, competitive environment, we must continue to perform effectively and productively. In 2007, we met our global budget as established by the Government and controlled expenses, working hard to promote efficiencies throughout our organization. Using the balanced scorecard as a tool to track and improve performance, we conducted a number of audits, including cost of production, use of space, and equipment utilization for our most capital-intensive assets.

Mount Sinai continues to be committed to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Wait Time Strategy. We met and outperformed the surgical oncology and hip and knee replacement volumes allocated by the Ministry. At the same time, wait times for surgical oncology procedures as well as hip and knee replacements decreased, exceeding Ministry targets in the majority of areas. The program’s high performance resulted in additional wait time funding which will allow us to maintain our level of access to patients requiring surgery. Similarly, Mount Sinai also received incremental funding for colorectal screening procedures. We will post these wait time results in the near future.

Operational excellence requires talented and motivated people. In 2007-08, we were once again recognized as a Top 50 Employer in the GTA. Our staff satisfaction and physician satisfaction levels were among the highest in our sector — across North America. We also undertook “Include Me!”, the first workforce census ever carried out in a hospital. The census, developed in consultation with our employees, is helping us to better understand the demographics of our workforce so that we can continue to be a fair and equitable employer.

Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital
The Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital, led by Dr. James Woodgett, is critical to our health-care and academic mission. Mount Sinai has a tradition of support for research and discovery; part of our mission is “to discover and deliver the best patient care.” The Research Committee of the Board, chaired by Tom Kierans and Larry Tanenbaum, provide direction and oversight.

Award-winning researchers are pioneering discoveries into the genetic foundations of disease that will dramatically change how we prevent and treat human illness in the future. We have a recognized team of systems biology experts, a world-class Women’s and Infants’ Health group, an excellent roster of cancer geneticists and important programs in diabetes, neurobiology, arthritis and genetic disorders.

Our program in mouse modeling of human disease welcomed the October opening of the Toronto Centre for Phenogenomics in our Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Health Complex. This leading-edge facility was created in collaboration with four Toronto-area hospitals.

Lunenfeld scientists have this year attracted external funding totalling more than $90 million — a unique achievement for an institute of its size. Our researchers consistently publish in the best journals, share findings with international colleagues, and their work receives high rates of citation by peers from around the globe. In the 2007 competition held by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (the largest funder of health research in Canada), our scientists substantially exceeded the national success rate. We also have clinician-scientists who translate our research findings to improve patient care. Our goal is to turn our discoveries into economic strength for Canada, both by enhancing our commercialization efforts and by working closely with MaRS and other University of Toronto-affiliated institutions.

Teaching and Learning
As an academic health centre, we embrace continuous teaching and learning and value mentorship. In the past academic year, 40 per cent of the University of Toronto’s undergraduate clinical clerks, residents and fellows were based at Mount Sinai at any given time, training in 36 accredited programs. Through our affiliation with the University of Toronto, we attract students from around the world and provide leadership in several clinical departments and training programs. Many of our physicians are recipients of University, national and international teaching awards. In addition, several of our clinical leaders also act as associate deans in the Faculty of Medicine.

Mount Sinai has earned a leadership position in simulation training, which is most visible in the University of Toronto Surgical Skills Centre located in the Hospital. This past year, 4,000 medical students, residents and surgeons developed and refined their skills and tested innovative surgical techniques in the Centre’s high-tech simulation setting. The PREP Centre (Program for Resident Education and Patient Safety) provides resuscitation skills training to staff and trainees from medical, nursing and allied health programs to improve their response to patients in critical states. We also offer courses to teams from across the province as part of the nationwide initiative, Safer HealthCare Now!

Education is a major focus of our Nursing Department, and Mount Sinai is a teaching site for a number of academic institutions, including the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto. In 2007-08, we trained 438 undergraduate students and hired 68 new graduate students, 56 per cent of all our nursing hires this year.

The Sydney and Florence Cooper Education Centre, the hub of our medical education program, promotes inter-professional education and fosters the highest standards of teaching for our trainees. Collaborative training programs continued to be initiated at the Hospital this past year. The Gerald P. Turner Department of Nursing received a significant grant from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to develop and implement an innovative program in inter-professional care that will contribute to the curriculum for Patient and Family-Centred Care. The Department also received a $300,000 Nursing Health Human Resources Grant to develop a best practice toolkit in nursing health human resources practices for first-line managers, in collaboration with several peer hospitals.

Broadening Community Health Collaborations
We have partnerships with the University of Toronto teaching hospitals, and work closely with U of T and its biomedical faculties. We engage fully, often in a leadership role, with major hospital associations such as the Toronto Academic Health Science Network and the Ontario Hospital Association. Our President and CEO chairs the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario, is on the Board of Directors for the Ontario Hospital Association and is a Governor of the University of Toronto.

Our Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes partnered with the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and Eli Lilly Canada to design and teach practicums in diabetes self-management education for newly funded diabetes educators in Family Health Teams and Community Health Centres.

We also take special pride in more than 50 active relationships with a cross-section of local health and social agencies. This is integral to the maturing environment of Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs). Our Patient Advisory Committee, along with local service providers, helps recommend ways for us to best meet community needs through partnerships with organizations such as the Scadding Court Community Centre and the South Riverdale Community Health Centre. Mount Sinai’s Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre also received funding in partnership with community organizations from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation to conduct an outreach project focused on breast health in marginalized women. As well, the Psychiatry Department’s Assertive Community Treatment Team was recognized internationally for its community outreach through an Award for Advancing Minority Mental Health, given by the American Psychiatric Foundation.

Community Support
Our community success relies on enduring philanthropy, and we are deeply grateful to our donors. In an increasingly competitive fundraising environment, Mount Sinai’s Foundation has raised $414-million for The Best Medicine to date. This year, our Foundation launched Research Creates the Best Medicine, a targeted campaign to establish chairs aligned to specific researchers. Tom Kierans and Mary Janigan, Bernard and Honey Sherman, and Leah Reichmann were among the first to donate toward this special initiative to fund research.

Leadership Sinai, our young philanthropic leaders group, also focused on raising funds for research, starting a multi-million dollar campaign to support our Cancer Research All-Star Team. The Foundation is planning other new campaigns that will continue to ensure Mount Sinai has the resources to deliver the best patient care in the best environment.

An $8 million donation from John and Myrna Daniels and their five sons created the John H. Daniels Cardiac Research Centre. The Christopher Sharp Centre for Surgery and Oncology came into being with a magnanimous gift of $5 million from Isadore and Rosalie Sharp in memory of their son. Several other donors made gifts of one million dollars or more, and we are deeply grateful: Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman; Cyril and Dorothy, Joel and Jill Reitman Family Foundation; Alan and Elise Mecklinger, Sheldon and Sema Mecklinger; the Posluns Family; Miles Spencer Nadal and Family; Phillip and Peggy DeZwirek; Rebecca MacDonald; Graham and Gale Wright; and the Angelo and Alfredo De Gasperis Families.

Donors also responded generously to the Foundation’s direct mail campaigns, supporting research programs and critical upgrades to equipment and technology. Legacy Sinai, our legacy giving program, was launched in October 2007, and we were honoured to be included in many donor legacies. These special gifts directly supported student researchers, our systems biology research team and other key patient care areas in the hospital. These are just some of the many examples of the deep culture of philanthropy that sustains Mount Sinai.

We are also proud that our Auxiliary, the oldest and largest in Canada, completed its $3.5-million Healthy Babies pledge. To help achieve its fundraising goal, this dedicated group organized a superb gala featuring award-winning singer Diana Krall, and Liv Blu, a fundraiser that featured a special performance by Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy. (Blue Rodeo also gave an exciting impromptu concert at Mount Sinai in December and visited some of our chemotherapy patients.) Barbara Hennick completed an outstanding two year-term as President, and handed the leadership over to the very capable Carole Grafstein.

We also benefit from more than 1,032 dedicated and hardworking volunteers who put in an average of over 100 hours each of service to the Hospital.

Accountability
Our Board of Directors offers expertise and counsel to ensure the highest standards and models of best practice. Our Board served the Hospital with strong stewardship over the past year, and our members provided leadership roles on the various committees that oversee operations and report back to the Board. These committees include Audit and Risk Management, led by George Wasserstein and Rt. Hon. John Turner; Business Development and Research Commercialization, led by Charles Winograd and Stephen Pustil; Information Technology, led by Ron Dembo and Peter Godsoe; Nominating and Governance, led by Lawrence Bloomberg and Heather Reisman; Quality, led by Brent Belzberg and Brenda Zimmerman; Research, led by Thomas Kierans and Lawrence Tanenbaum; and Resources, led by Jay Hennick and Peter Cohen.

Enhanced Board processes allow the Hospital to take full advantage of the collective expertise, enthusiasm and dedication of its members and committees.

The Essence of Mount Sinai
At Mount Sinai, our commitment is to the community, our values and our heritage. Our investments in state-of-the-art facilities and the latest technologies. The partnership of pioneering research and clinical care. Academic excellence, and a dedication to teaching and training. Diversity, respect, leadership and excellence. An understanding that quality-like everything at Mount Sinai–begins and ends with our patients. We are absolutely defined by our people-across the organization-who combine intelligence and compassion. Mount Sinai brings together an optimistic, dedicated and innovative team, people with bright minds and big hearts who strive to deliver excellence and compassion-The Best Medicine-to our patients and their families.

This is the very spirit of Mount Sinai: Bright Minds. Big Hearts. The Best Medicine.

Lawrence S. Bloomberg
Chair of the Board
Mount Sinai Hospital

Joseph Mapa
President and CEO
Mount Sinai Hospital