Message from Carefor's CEO, Bob Cerniuk - November 2009
At last, we are nicely settled into our new office location at 760 Belfast Road. The leaves are long gone and the snow, well, let's say we relocated just in time to miss the daily struggle of finding a parking spot at the shopping mall!
There are a lot of exciting things happening at Carefor right now, including the recent move of our head office and St. Laurent Clinics to 760 Belfast Road, at the corner of Trainyards Drive.
For those of you who came to work at the Belfast office on September 21st, that fateful first week, thank you, thank you, thank you! I know it was a tiring process and I'm proud to report that Carefor's head office and clinic staff came through with flying colours.
I have to make a point to thank the move team, the people behind, in front, and sometimes under the boxes, plans and blueprints who went above and beyond the call of duty to get us ready (both mentally and physically) for the big day.
On behalf of the Board, management, staff, volunteers and donors, I extend my sincerest thanks to Donna Deknatel, Jan McNamara, Sheryl Cross, Jeanette Mandel, John Deknatel and Ed Woo. You managed to keep us on track and made what could have been an unbearably stressful event significantly better.
In an effort to streamline communications, I thought this might be a good opportunity to share with you my most recent report to the Board of Directors.
Ottawa CCAC Client Service Volumes
Staff have made exceptional efforts in maintaining client service volumes throughout the peak summer vacation period. Typically, service volumes decline by 20% during July and August. This year service volumes only had a slight decline during the peak vacation period. This fiscal year the annual service volumes have been maintained above the annual budgeted CCAC targets in each service. A great job done by all concerned!
Ottawa Inner City Health Inc.
The Shepherds of Good Hope has purchased the Cardinal Suites facility. This location is to be used by the OICH Inc. as a new home for the expanded Supported Housing Project and some existing programs. Some support services at this site will be staffed by Carefor. The site will be ready for occupancy in late December 2009 following some minor renovations. We're looking forward to being involved with this very important project.
Cornerstone
The Cornerstone Project (supportive housing for women) is planning to build a 42-unit supported housing complex. Almost half of the units are to be for senior women. Cornerstone has plans to initiate a Capital Campaign in hopes of raising up to $2 million to address the full program budget. Carefor continues to be an active partner in the project planning and has provided a letter of support for all of the project grant applications. Carefor Board member Carol Burrows and I are both members of the Cornerstone Project Steering Committee.
Going Home Project
I'm pleased to announce that Carefor is the lead agency for the Going Home Project and expansion of Adult Day Programs for Champlain District. Service delivery for the first five months of the fiscal year has surpassed planned targets and the programs are within budget.
In closing, I know a lot of you are confused about the H1N1 vaccine, and what you should be doing, if anything. Getting the influenza vaccine (whether it be the seasonal or the H1N1 vaccine) is a personal choice, and all we can do is pass along information that we think will be helpful.
It doesn't hurt to remind ourselves that as a healthcare organization, we strive to reduce the amount of illness in our community through healthy hygiene practices including consistent hand-washing and coughing in your elbow. Please do your part as you deem appropriate.
All of you are integral to Carefor's continued success and we appreciate all the hard work you do. I hope to see you at our upcoming Staff & Volunteer Holiday open house event on Wednesday, December 9th from 3-6pm at the Belfast Road office.
From my family to yours, best wishes for a joyous holiday season and a healthy new year!
Sincerely,
Bob Cerniuk, CEO
Carefor Health & Community Services
