The foundational work toward Fairmount’s Registered Nurses Association of Ontario(External link) Best Practice Spotlight Organization(External link) designation is underway and proceeding as planned.

Fairmount Home's BPSO co-leads and nurse practitioners Anna Campbell and Rebecca McEwen are scheduled to present at the RNAO Knowledge Symposium, November 12. A central part of earning BPSO designation is investment in and commitment to a culture of evidence-based decision making. That means making new and deliberate measurements of the care Fairmount nursing professionals provide to residents, then measuring how that care impacts residents’ health and wellbeing. It also makes comparison among other BPSOs much more practical and accurate. The process involves collecting hard data and distilling it into useful information Fairmount nurses can then use to identify ways to provide the best possible care to each resident.

Fairmount Home Director of Care Emily Shoniker and Assistant Director of Care (IPC) Payton Hunt attended an RNAO Clinical Pathways launch, September 11..

Next, Fairmount plans to implement RNAO Clinical Pathways(External link) and PointClickCare(External link)'s Nursing Advantage Canada electronic healthcare system. This an RNAO-guided effort that includes the implementation of evidence-based guidelines for improving care and efficiency, and a new system for organizing, measuring, and standardizing resident care plans for each resident's specific clinical issues or procedures. The first implimentation phase for Clinical Pathways is scheduled for March, 2025.

Check this space regularly for updates and new information as it becomes available.

Click here to learn more about RNAO BPSO designation(External link).
Click here to read about RNAO BPSO designation at Fairmount Home(External link).
Click here to read about the June 18 Fairmount Home BPSO launch event(External link).
Click here to visit Engaging with Fairmount Home.

Fairmount Home has been selected by the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO(External link)) as a long-term care Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO)(External link) pre-designate.

Fairmount Nursing professionals Rebecca McEwen, Emily Shoniker, Tammy McConnel, and Anna Campbell represent Fairmount’s BPSO steering committee and are attending a BPSO orientation and launch event in Toronto, April 24.

The Eastern Ontario Warden's Caucus (EOWC) advocates for government investment in municipal long-term care homes, improved staffing, and care of residents. Member municipalities have identified four key priorities in long-term care for the coming year:

• That the Province provide funding to offset premiums that municipalities are required to pay for private staffing-agency workers
• That the Province fund temporary foreign workers to fill the human resources gap in rural long-term care homes
• That the Province reinstate the Construction Funding Subsidy (CFS) that ended in August of 2023 to help municipalities build and reinvest in long-term care homes
• That the Province implement a low-interest loan program to assist municipalities with the capital redevelopment and expansion of long-term care homes, and that these loans apply to homes that are both under construction and yet to be built

EOWC delegates delivered that message to Provincial leaders at the recent Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) Conference in Toronto, January 21. And submitted it as part of the 2024 Province of Ontario Budget Consultation, January 31.

Click here to read the EOWC ROMA Conference briefing package(External link)
Click here to read to the 2024 Ontario Pre-Budget Consultation submission(External link)
Click here to visit the EOWC long-term care advocacy page(External link)

At the ROMA Conference in Toronto, Jan 21-23: MPP Stephane Sarrazin, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell; MPP Laurie Scott, Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock; Warden Jamie MacDonald, United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry; EOWC Vice-Chair, Bonnie Clark, Peterborough County; Minister Kinga Surma, Ministry of Infrastructure; MPP John Yakabuski, Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke; Chair Peter Emon, Renfrew County; Warden Pierre Leroux, United Counties of Prescott & Russell; MPP John Jordan, Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston; MPP Dave Smith, Peterborough-Kawartha; Warden Brian Ostrander, Northumberland County.

Fairmount Home Administrator Susan Brant presented a series of initial options for the future of Fairmount Home to Frontenac County Council at a Council strategic planning working group session on October 18, 2023.

The home portion of the Fairmount Home building was completed in 1968 and can accommodate 128 resident beds. Administrator Brant described four possible options for the future of Fairmount Home.

1. Plan to do nothing. Complete a building assessment and adjust reserve payment calculations accordingly. Maintain 128 resident beds.
2. Remain at the current site but modernize the existing building to improve infection prevention/control and resident comfort.
3. Remain at the current site but modernize the existing building as in option two, and expand to add an additional 32 resident beds for a total of 160 beds.
4. Build a new 160-bed Fairmount Home building on Frontenac County campus near the existing building and repurpose the existing building.

It's important to note that these options are merely a starting point for Council discussion and consideration, and that strategic choices related to Fairmount Home will likely inform strategic decisions pertaining to Frontenac Paramedics. Click here to learn about Frontenac Paramedics.

Council voted to gather more information related to costs with the City of Kingston with an eye to exploring more about option three for Fairmount Home: Modernize the current site and add 32 beds for a total of 160 beds.

Next steps to come in due course after staff reports back to Council.

Watch video of Administrator Brant's presentation below for more detail, cost implications, and Council discussion.

And watch Frontenac County CAO Kelly Pender introduce the Fairmount and Frontenac Paramedics strategic plan proposals. . . .

The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), an international accreditor of health and human services, has awarded Fairmount Home staff top marks after this year’s consultative accreditation process.

“Accreditation is a team effort among staff, volunteers, residents, families, and management,” says Fairmount Home Administrator, Susan Brant. “It’s only by working together that we continue to be a home of choice for our residents, staff, and volunteers. I want to thank everyone for their contributions to the success of this important process.”

CARF accreditation represents objective, expert assurance that Fairmount staff demonstrate conformance with internationally accepted standards for care. It’s one example of the work Fairmount staff does to assure residents, resident families, volunteers, health care partners, and the community that Fairmount meets the highest standard for quality of care.

There are three tiers of CARF accreditation: provisional, one-year, and three-year. Fairmount staff earned the highest of those, three-year accreditation. The rigorous accreditation process can take a year or more to complete and includes a self-evaluation component, detailed reporting on conformance to CARF standards, and a detailed site survey of the home by a CARF survey team.

“It is apparent that Fairmont Home provides excellent person-centred care to its residents and families,” reads the CARF accreditation report. “. . . Fairmont Home demonstrates a commitment to using the CARF standards to the benefit of residents, families, and employees. Both families and residents expressed a high level of satisfaction with the organization and the services provided.”

Click here to learn more about accreditation at Fairmount(External link) and to see the complete CARF Accreditation Report and Benchmarking Data Graphs.

Click here to learn more about The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF)(External link).