2012 Annual Report of Grandview Children's Centre
The 27th Annual General Meeting of Grandview Children's Centre was held in Oshawa on June 14, 2012.
The meeting was attended by the Centre Board of Trustees, staff and families.
Linda Kenny, Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Association of Children's Rehabilitation Services (OACRS), of which Grandview is a member, was present to announce the $1,000 2012 OACRS Scholarship Award winner.
Staff awards were also announced, and the Centre Board of Trustees bid farewell to Chair Barb Olsen, stepping down after 8 years of dedicated volunteer service to the Board. Grandview is grateful for Barb's leadership as Board Chair for the past 2 years, and wishes her continued success in her move to Chicago, Illinois.
Click here to see award presentation pictures from the meeting.
The 2011-2012 Annual Report including the audited financial statement was received and approved by the voting members. Click here to read the full report and access past reports.
During the meeting, Executive Director Lorraine Sunstrum-Mann delivered the following remarks:
It hardly seems possible that one year has passed since I was a guest at the Grandview Children’s Centre Annual General Meeting having just accepted to join the organization as Executive Director. Time really does fly when you are having fun.
It has been an incredibly successful year at Grandview.
Some big changes occurred which will continue to shape the Centre and our ability to respond to the growing needs in our community and the broader sector we serve. Many of the changes are detailed in the Annual Report and I would like to highlight a few for you today.
2011-2012 will likely be remembered as the year of the Durham ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis)-based Services and Supports for Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Being selected as the Lead Agency for Durham Region created the opportunity for Grandview to lead a true integrated service delivery model. With our partners, Resources for Exceptional Children and Youth - Durham Region, Lake Ridge Community Support Services and UOIT, we have worked over the past year to create a vibrant program that will continue to serve 500 children and youth annually.
I must acknowledge the Leadership of Leslie Suite, Director of Clinical Services, Janis Brook, Director of Finance and Administration and Wanda Ricci, Clinical Manager, in getting the program from a vision on paper to actively delivering service in a remarkable turnaround of a few months.
Medical Services at Grandview also experienced many changes this year. Our Medical Director Dr. Carolyn Hunt and Developmental Pediatrician Dr. Mary MacDonald participated in a comprehensive external review, many positive recommendations have been implemented and the results are very encouraging. For example last year wait time for new assessments was one year and currently the wait has been reduced to 3 months and in some cases less.
A growing focus on Discovery, Innovation and Research has advanced a culture of relentless attention to evidence-informed practice. Along with many of the research initiatives we participate in, Grandview celebrated a milestone this year with our first independently initiated research project. To add to our excitement the project was initiated by our direct care staff. The leadership of Dr. Hunt and the entire medical staff, including visiting specialists in the culture of best practice, is a key factor in the sustainability of excellent care.
Across Clinical Services, thirteen improvement initiatives were successfully or are in the midst of being implemented. One of these projects, GOLDCARE, is a game-changer for Grandview. Working with OACRS as the project lead we are going live on July 1st to a new Clinical Information System with 12 other Children’s Treatment Centres. For those of you who have experienced an information system changeover you can understand the impact. Our clinical staff is learning new ways of documenting and creating new processes for ensuring the best information is available across diverse needs.
Our Client Information Services team is hard at work to ensure ongoing compliance with data reporting that will additionally enhance our ability to measure and understand our clinical outcomes and report them in a transparent and meaningful way. Preparation for the transition has been occurring for well over a year and to be this close really has the organization's full attention. Kris Novak, Manager of Client Information Services, and Janet Isaac, Clinical Manager, have led the preparation and agre SOLID GOLD in their Gold Care work.
Finally, I wish to acknowledge the work and support of the Centre Board of Trustees in the achievement of our 2012-2017 Strategic Plan.
Not surprisingly with this ambitious plan Grandview has set the bar high and made an ongoing commitment to the children, youth and families we serve. I consider it a great honour to be a part of the team who will bring successful achievement of the Strategic Plan to reality.
It will be the journey that will matter as we achieve the Strategic Plan and I can think of no better team to journey along with than the dedicated Board of Trustees. Their vision and commitment is inspiring. You will also soon hear from the Grandview Children's Foundation and I wish to acknowledge and thank them for the incredible support of our vision. Our partnership with Campbell Children’s School remains rock solid and they go above and beyond to showcase the work they do whenever we ask. A vist to Campbell’s creates awareness of the extraordinary work happening here in ways mere words can never do. The senior leadership team of Leslie Suite, Janis Brook, Carolyn Hunt and Jean Callaghan have been wonderful teachers this past year and I look forward to what is to come.
As you will undoubtedly see in the pages of the annual report, the Grandview Children's Centre staff is an exceptional team and the fact that they continue to step up in the midst of many changes and ongoing pressures to serve the children, youth and family accessing Grandview is where our inspiration starts.
So hats off to a wonderful year, and I look forward to celebrating the successes we are currently working on with you at next year’s Annual General Meeting.
