During the week of May 8 to 12 Providence Care celebrated Nursing Week, and on Friday, May 12 Providence Care Hospital hosted a special guest to mark the occasion. As part of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario’s (RNAO) Take your MPP to Work Day, MPP Sophie Kiwala visited Providence Care Hospital.

Part of MPP Kiwala’s visit included learning about our Approach to Care and the Collaborative Practice Philosophy at Providence Care Hospital. Historically, our philosophy of care has been patient- and family-centered care at St. Mary’s of the Lake Hospital and recovery-oriented care at Mental Health Services. When planning for the transition to Providence Care Hospital, where staff, patients, and clients would be under one roof, staff asked themselves how to bring these two philosophies together; the answer was our Approach to Care.

Diana O’Grady, Vice President of Patient and Client Care explained that this was “an organic way of coming together” and that patient- and family-centered care is very natural to Providence Care as an organization.” When discussing the move to Providence Care Hospital, Maurio Ruffalo, Vice President of Hospital Transition and Chief Nursing Executive, explained that  “we never lost our focus through this transition; patients, clients and families are our focus.”

MPP Kiwala visited one of our Adult Mental Health units as well as one of our Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation units. She engaged in conversation with staff and showed a keen interest in learning about the people we serve.