West Parry Sound Health Centre

West Parry Sound Health Centre has always employed an innovative planning approach aimed at integrating services. Faced with the challenges of relative isolation between larger health care providers in southern and northern Ontario, WPSHC has partnered in regional alliances and created internal programming solutions that have benefited patient care and improved services throughout the catchment area. This incremental approach to service integration dates back to the creation of WPSHC in 1995 as the result of an amalgamation of two distinct hospital entities. What results today is a uniquely integrated health care organization that includes: Lakeland Long Term Care, six Nursing Stations delivering care to rural communities, management of District ambulance services and dispatch, and a full range of in-patient and out-patient programs associated with a 90-bed acute care hospital. As well as being recognized as a "pace-setter" hospital for its unbroken string of balanced budgets, WPSHC's innovative approach to integration has benefited the community through: more seamless local delivery of services, improved access to primary care, a wider understanding of local needs and the ability to respond, cost savings through co-location and improved 'point-of-service' for clients.