1. STRATEGY PLAN
PALLIATIVE CARE NETWORK
FOR YORK REGION
October 2011
Strategic Plan 2011-2014
Transforming PalCare Network to a Centre of Excellence
Led by: Dr. Roohullah Shabon
Participants: PalCare Board of Directors
Contributors: PalCare Stakeholders
Approved by: Board of Directors

2. Date: October 2011
Table of Contents
A. Acknowledgement ................................................................................................... 3
B. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 3
C. Message from Chair of Palcare Board of Directors .................................................. 3
D. Message from Executive Director .............................................................................. 4
E. Community Engagement ............................................................................................. 5
F. Our Vision ..................................................................................................................... 6
G. Our Mission .................................................................................................................. 6
H. Our Guiding Principles .................................................................................................. 6
I. Our Values ...................................................................................................................... 7
J. Strategic Directions ....................................................................................................... 7
K. Current Realities........................................................................................................... 7
L. Programs, Services and Supports .............................................................................. 12
M. Organogram ............................................................................................................... 13

3. A. Acknowledgement
PalCare Network for York Region gratefully acknowledges the facilitation services of Dr.
Roohullah Shabon, Professor at the School of Community Services of Seneca College,
for the development of our 2011-14 Strategic Plan. Dr. Shabon’s insights and experience
were instrumental in guiding our organization through this process.
B. Introduction
This Strategic Plan comes at a critical point for PalCare Network because of the rapidly
changing landscape of healthcare. Now more than ever it is incumbent upon us to meet
the challenge of efficient and timely service delivery and identify opportunities to work
collaboratively with other healthcare providers.
This report outlines the information and data that was gathered over the past several
months that has contributed to the Strategic Planning discussions held by the Board on
October 15th, 2011. A summary of the strategic directions and priorities set by the Board
for PalCare Network is also included.
C. Message from Chair of PalCare Board of Directors
Greetings to all our members of PalCare Network. I am please and honoured to serve you
as your chair for the 2011-2012 year. After serving as board member for the past 3years I
have had the opportunity to appreciate the hard work it takes to steer an organization
through some tough economic times, addressing the ever-growing need for quality
hospice palliative care in a strained health care system. It has taken great effort from our
previous chairs - Lynn McLarnon and Kevin Hynes - to see PalCare Network survive and
thrive through some major changes. I would like to acknowledge and thank them both for
all their hard work and dedication in the past 3 years.
But now we are about to embark on a new journey. Our board is prepared to accept the
next challenge in seeing our organization grow in our vision to provide “awareness and
easy access to high quality, compassionate, coordinated hospice palliative care” to the
people of York Region. On October 15th our board participated in an engaging and lively
brainstorming session to come up with our 2011-2014 Strategic Plan.
Many thanks to Dr Roohullah Shabon for facilitating this day - his guidance was
instrumental in getting our ideas to paper. The day proved to be energetic and inspiring
and I hope our report brings the same response to our readers.
As outlined in the Strategic Plan, our goals will be to focus on improving awareness and
building stronger relationships with the community and our healthcare partners. We are
driven to expand our education programs to meet the growing needs in York Region. As

4. well we want to be an even stronger voice that advocates for the benefits of hospice
palliative care for the needs of individuals and their loved ones dealing with life-
threatening illnesses.
Our journey will start at home first. Building on the momentum of that day, we will focus
our attention on governance with the revision of our operational policies and procedures.
This will be our building block to attain accreditation by 2014.
So I would like to invite our members to spend some time looking through our Strategic
Plan on our website and to revisit again throughout the next 3 years to monitor our
progress. Our responsibility now is to see our ideas become the reality and with the
growing need for accountability in today's world, we are determined to see these goals
to the finish line.
Before closing, I would like to (re)introduce you to our newly appointed Executive
Director, Julie Goodall, who has shown her hardened determination at PalCare Network
working as our Director of Operations for the past 3 years. We welcome Julie in her new
role and thank her for her dedication and her loyalty.
Thanks again to our Board of Directors, both past and present, in seeing PalCare Network
reach this point in its journey. Now, onto the next destination....
Natasha Zajc MD, CCFP, ABHPM Board Chair
D. Message from Executive Director
A Centre For Excellence
This has been an exciting year of growth and change for Palliative Care Network for
York Region. We have been carefully reviewing our purpose and those we serve to
understand how we may best influence better outcomes in the hospice palliative care
community.
The result is that PalCare Network is well positioned to move forward with a clear
mandate for how to achieve its goals. Goals include:
Development and implementation of an effective communication strategy to promote
awareness and understanding of hospice palliative care resources in our community
Provide advocacy in support of the value of hospice palliative care for improving quality
of life
Building stronger relationships with our healthcare partners to maximize use of
resources and minimize duplication
Program expansion and delivery to meet the diverse and changing needs in the hospice
palliative care community

5. We will be focused on meeting our new strategic directions as outlined in this report.
PalCare Network’s Board of Director’s commitment and dedication to the future of the
organization has been unwavering and the development of this Strategic Plan has been a
work in progress for some time. Each member of the Board has brought great experience
and forethought to our strategic planning sessions to build the roadmap for the
organization’s future. PalCare Network is thankful for these significant contributions and
note Dr. Shabon offered much clarity in the facilitating process allowing for rich
discussion and positive results.
Continued growth and collaboration with our over 40 existing member agencies, as well
as new partners in caring, which we will be welcoming in the coming months will be
paramount to improving quality of care and service delivery in our community. As we
develop our operational plan, there will be further consultation with our stakeholders to
ensure our mutual success.
Evaluations for PalCare Network’s new and improved education programs are very
positive. We are confident our programs are building quality capacity in the health care
community addressing priorities such as, Health Equity and reducing Emergency
Department visits.
We have also just completed a special 56 hour hospice palliative care training program
developed by PalCare for Personal Support Workers from 4 different long term care
centres in our region at the request of the Hospice Palliative Care Teams for Central
LHIN.
PalCare Network’s opportunities to make a positive impact in our community are many
and with the support of our highly dedicated Board of Directors, volunteers and member
agencies, we are that much closer to achieving our Vision.
I look forward in my new capacity as Executive Director to guiding our team in our
pursuit of becoming “a Centre of Excellence” for hospice palliative care.
Sincerely,
Julie Goodall
Executive Director
E. Community Engagement

6. In order to ensure the success of PalCare Network’s strategic planning process, internal
and external environmental scans were completed. Network members, community
stakeholders and other relevant partners offered external feedback. PalCare Network staff
and Board were consulted for internal information. Two anonymous surveys were
completed as part of this process. The first was a Stakeholder Engagement for Education
Programs survey that was initiated on August 3, 2011. A comprehensive Strategic
Planning Survey was also conducted on October 6th. Board and staff met on September
21st to identify key issues for future planning.
F. Our Vision
It is our vision to provide awareness and easy access to high quality, compassionate,
coordinated hospice palliative care everywhere.
G. Our Mission
PalCare Network for York Region is an alliance of service providers and community
members dedicated to facilitating coordinated quality hospice-palliative care for
individuals, families and caregivers.
Our focus is:
• Planning and delivering high quality education
• Advocacy, innovation and awareness
• Collaboration and integration
• Quality and dignity at end of life
H. Our Guiding Principles
• Equity
• Quality
• Innovation
• Ethical
• Empowerment
• Inclusion (diversity)

7. I. Our Values
• Equity and inclusion
• Quality and innovation
• Empowerment
• Integrity, honesty and ethics
• Assuming the best intentions
• Dignity, respect and compassion
J. Strategic Directions
1. To maximize organizational effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability.
2. Establish and strengthen PalCare Network for York Region’s role in regional
planning for palliative care in concert with focus partners, associations, networks
and health care communities- increase membership, develop communications
strategy and diversify funding.
3. Increase advocacy and awareness of the value of hospice palliative care in the
community.
4. Develop governance and operational policies and procedures for attaining
accreditation.
5. Measure program outcomes and continue to improve.
K. Current Realities
Education
PalCare Network continues to be the leader in psycho-social palliative care education in
our region; however it is challenged to meet the demand for programs and diversification
of programs due to limited human resource capacity. In order that PalCare may properly
fulfill its’ Mission, greater human resources will be required.
The need for educational support in the community, specifically in the assisted living and
long-term care sector is significant and will continue to grow as we see long term care
facilities and other supportive care units handling an increasing number of palliative
residents. Quality end of life care education will be a critical component of success for

8. these institutions. Proper competence and confidence amongst the long term care teams
will also help to reduce emergency department and acute care admittances, which
continue to be a significant challenge to our health care system. PalCare has the
education programs to assist the long term care environments, but requires additional
human resources to meet the demand.
PalCare Network continues to provide the Introduction to Core Concepts in Palliative
Care to all of our hospice member agencies 5 times per year with funding support from
the Central LHIN. This 30 hour program for hospice staff and volunteers is required by
Hospice Palliative Care Ontario for hospice accreditation.
Visibility
With the voluntary integration of the Pain and Symptom Management program from
PalCare Network to the Hospice Palliative Care Teams in August 2009, PalCare’s
identity has become unclear to both the public as well as our healthcare partners in the
community. PalCare Network’s communication strategy will be reviewed and
redeveloped to reflect our new Mission and to ensure we are reaching all we may serve.
Visiting Hospice
PalCare Network is working to strengthen its relationship with visiting hospice to
promote hospice palliative care (HPC) services in the community as more and more
responsibility for care is being shifted to families. The demand for care continues to
increase and the importance of consistent messaging and ease of access to HPC support
will be vital for our agency, our partners in caring and the community we serve.
Awareness
Greater understanding and education around palliative care, its value and when it should
be offered continues to be misunderstood not only at the community level, but also within
the healthcare system. There is significant opportunity to define and promote awareness
of palliative care, especially understanding that it is much more than end of life care.
More value needs to be built around psycho-social supports and the importance of ‘whole
person’ care.
Funding Diversification
PalCare Network must actively seek funding diversification to ensure the infrastructure
required to achieve our existing and future goals. PalCare Network does not currently
have sufficient operational supports to sustain its existing programs. A minimum of 2
full time and 1 part time staff are required at this time to ensure organizational stability
and success of funding diversification plans, which will lead us into the next phases of
our growth and development.

9. Diversity
The Central LHIN and specifically York Region is the most culturally diverse community
in Canada. Health Equity continues to be a priority for PalCare Network and we continue
to develop and promote awareness and education for cultural competence and
understanding. Diversity and inclusion are part of our plans from a governance level
through to our program delivery.
.
Critical Success Factors and how to measure them
The critical success factors are summarized in the following table
Critical Success Factors Measured by Examples
Accreditation To be completed by the end of 2014 in order to build funder,
member and consumer confidence.
Improve community service Consult with our healthcare partners to develop, fund and
delivery implement an enhanced platform for ease of referral for
professionals to connect clients to HPC in the community by 2014
Organizational Plans Develop and follow new operational plans to be reviewed at
reflecting new agency regular intervals to ensure targets can be achieved i.e Balanced
directions Scorecard
Comprehensive Develop and implement comprehensive communications plan to
Communications Plan reach public, membership, healthcare providers, volunteers and
potential funders to build value in our organization and our sector
through multiple communication channels and platforms
Governance Review policies and update By-Laws by 2012 AGM
Funding Diversification Obtain new funding in 2012 to enable community service delivery
improvements in 2013-2014 Increase membership by 5% in 2012
and 10% in 2013 and 2014
Expand Education Continue to build on program successes. Meet the needs of our
Programs funders and membership through consultation and responsive
program delivery consistently over the next 3 years.

10. PalCare Network Board of Directors
From Left to Right: Remy Milad, Jan Pearce, Dr. Natasha Zajc, Dr. Roohullah Shabon, Juliet Irish
PalCare Network Operations Team
Julie Goodall~ Executive Director
Linda Adler~ Finance & Reporting Coordinator
Haran Vijayanathan~ Education Facilitator

11. Palcare Stakeholders
All Care Health & Staffing Services Markham Stouffville Hospital
Aurora Resthaven Markhaven Inc.
Bayshore Health Care Services Mon Sheong LTC Centre
Bethany Lodge Pace Independent Living
Bloomington Cove Leisureworld ParaMed
Caregiving Centre Parkview Home
Cedarvale Lodge Leisureworld Pine Grove Lodge
Caregiving Centre Vaughan Preferred Health Care Inc.
Closing the Gap Regional Nursing Services
Comcare Health Services Sherwood Court
Community Care Access Centre Southlake Regional Health Centre
Community Home Assistance to Seniors SRT Med Staff
Doane House Hospice St. Elizabeth Health Services
Eagle Terrace Sunrise Assisted Living
Elginwood The Woodhaven
Mount Pleasant Cemeteries Group Unionville Home Society
Evergreen Hospice Villa Colombo Vaughan
Firstaff Health Care Services Villa Leonardo Gambin
Hill House Hospice VON Toronto/York Branch
Hospice Georgina We Care Home Health Centre
Hospice King Aurora William Osler Health Centre
Hospice Richmond Hill Willow Estates
Hospice Thornhill Yee Hong Centre
Hospice Vaughan York Central Hospital
King City Lodge Nursing Home York Central LTC Facility
Kristus Darzs Latvian Home York Region Maple Health Centre
MacKenzie Place York Region Newmarket Health Centre
Mariann Home

12. Palcare Network Funders
The Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN)
Donors and Partners
Investor’s Group
Highland Funeral Home
United Way
L. Programs, Services and Supports
Programs
Introduction to Core Concepts in Palliative Care
Core Concepts 2 ~ Workshops for experienced hospice and healthcare staff
Compassion Fatigue
Hospice Palliative Care Education for LTC settings for unregistered staff
Services
General Information on Hospice Palliative Care for the Community
Purchase of Visiting Volunteer Services and Grief and Bereavement Support
Transfer Payment Agency
Community Resource Library for Hospice Palliative Care
Custom HPC Program Development
Supports
Community resource to connect individuals to HPC care
St Plan YEARS 2011 -2014 Facilitated by R. Shabon

13. M. Organogram
2011
St Plan YEARS 2011 -2014 Facilitated by R. Shabon