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A message from our Veterans Centre

November 9, 2012

We were surprised by recent news stories regarding the care at our Veterans Centre, as recent surveys show that Veterans and their families are very satisfied with the care they're receiving. Our Veterans Centre has roughly 500 nursing staff, and every day, we strive to provide the best possible care to each and every Veteran. We are reaching out to the families mentioned in the articles to ensure open communication and to address their concerns.

Watch Dr. Jocelyn Charles' video message:

Every two years, the Veterans Centre participates in a very comprehensive Resident and Family Satisfaction Survey. Across Canada, thousands of residents and their families in complex continuing care facilities also take part in this same survey.

The survey is done by NRC+Picker, an external and independent company with no affiliation to Sunnybrook. NRC+Picker sends trained staff to interview residents, mails out and receives the family satisfaction survey (mailed to the person who visits the resident most often), and then analyzes and summarizes the results. All of the results are anonymous and cannot be linked in any way to an individual resident or family. 

Last year, we had 248 residents and 229 family members respond; both groups told us that the overall quality at the Veterans Centre is excellent.

In fact, we exceeded the Ontario CCC average, the Canadian LTC-CCC average and the Ontario high performer for both overall care and services as well as all domains combined for Long Term Care and Complex Continuing Care.

Residents and families also gave us very useful feedback, something very important as we are constantly striving to provide the best possible quality of life for our Veteran residents. 

Here are some highlights of the results:

We exceeded both the Ontario and Canadian averages and the Ontario high performer in all seven domains of resident satisfaction:

  • Autonomy 
  • Staff
  • Dignity
  • Medical Care & Treatment
  • Food
  • Activities 
  • Living Environment

We also exceeded both the Ontario and Canadian averages and the Ontario high performer in all 6 domains of family satisfaction: Global Quality, Care and Services, Communication, Assistance with Eating, Activities, and Living Environment. All our scores were significantly above the comparators.

Our strengths, according to the resident and family survey:

Enough opportunity for personal activities (RES)........................98.7%

Residence clean/tidy (RES) ...........................93.0%

Given enough time to eat (RES) ....................92.4%

*Smell of facility doesn't bother you (RES) .....90.9%

Given right amount of food (RES) ..................90.6%

Enough entertainment (RES) .........................89.2%

Personal/physical privacy respected (RES) ...88.9%

Staff call you by name (RES) .........................88.5%

*Staff don't take advantage of you (RES) .......88.4%

Feel welcome on unit (FAM) ..........................97.7%

Staff polite/courteous towards you (FAM) ......97.3%

Quality of care/services over last year (FAM) .96.0%

Respectful treatment of residents (FAM) ........95.9%

Staff appreciate your help (FAM) ...................95.3%

Facility takes care of needs (FAM) .................95.0%

Individualized care provided by facility (FAM) 94.6%

Your relationship w/staff (FAM) ......................94.5%

Comfort level: resident well taken care of (FAM)...............................94.1%

Facility maintains dignity (FAM) .....................94.0%

Should you have any concerns about the quality of care received by a loved one at our Veterans Centre, please contact Nancy Smokler, our patient relations representative at 416-480-6107.