This is an opinion column written by President and CEO Lynn Guerriero, published in the St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review and Welland Tribune.
Two and a half years ago, Niagara Health launched a five-year plan called Transforming Care to chart a path forward on how hospital care is delivered in our region so patients and families receive the best care possible.
We’re now halfway through that plan — a good time to pause, look honestly at what’s been achieved and be clear about what still needs work.
When we began planning, the healthcare system was still reeling from the pandemic. Staffing shortages and burnout were real. Demand was rising, driven by an aging population that requires more complex care. Niagara has the third-highest older adult population in Canada, and that reality impacts every decision we make.
At the same time, digital transformation was accelerating across every sector, and hospitals were racing to catch up and modernize aging infrastructure. We knew Niagara needed more than just new tools. We needed to redesign how we work.
Our Strategic Plan is built around three pillars: putting people first, delivering safe and quality care and transforming how we work. Every decision we’ve made has been guided by these priorities.
Putting people first means focusing on patients, families and the teams that care for them. Despite the national shortage of healthcare workers, Niagara Health has one of the lowest nursing vacancy rates in Ontario at just 2.4 per cent. Vacancies have been reduced by 43 percent since 2022, with more than 3,400 roles filled through enhanced recruitment. Over the past year, Niagara Health has welcomed 28 new physicians and surgeons across a range of specialties, including anesthesiology, emergency and general internal medicine.
Like every hospital in Ontario, we face serious pressures. Demand for hospital services continues to grow, costs are rising and recruitment is more competitive than ever. We have to think differently — positioning Niagara as a place to live, work and build a career.
Niagara Health can do its part through workplace culture, training and new models of care that use every skill on our teams to the fullest, but it takes a region to make Niagara feel like home.
One of the most pressing issues we face today is hospital capacity. Many inpatient beds are occupied by patients who no longer need hospital-level care but are waiting for long-term care, home care or other community supports. This creates a ripple effect — emergency departments back up and patients waiting for an inpatient bed spend longer times being cared for in emergency departments.
That’s why our focus on patient flow — ensuring people are cared for in the right place — is essential. When patients can safely recover at home or receive care in the community, it frees up beds for those who truly need them and leads to better outcomes, especially for older adults.
Programs like Niagara Health at Home are helping. More than 430 patients have transitioned safely home after hospital or avoided admission altogether. With the right support, people recover better and faster outside hospital walls.
We also know our wait times, especially in emergency departments and diagnostic imaging, are still too long. We’ve expanded support roles and introduced initiatives like the ED Ambassador program to improve safety and communication in waiting rooms. We’ve also added new Nurse Practitioners to our St. Catharines emergency department to enable faster access to care for patients waiting. New CT scanners — the first next-generation fleet in Canada — are helping reduce waits, but there’s more to do.
There are reasons to be encouraged. Our stroke program at Niagara Falls Hospital earned national recognition from Accreditation Canada. Our partnership with local physicians through SCOPE Niagara (access to virtual specialist consultations) has prevented unnecessary emergency visits.
And construction of the new South Niagara Hospital — now at its eleventh floor — is on time and on budget. The future Centre of Excellence for Wellness in Aging there will serve Niagara for decades. The Welland Hospital redevelopment will follow, and together they’ll form a connected, three-site hospital system for the region.
Niagara Health belongs to this community. Every milestone, every challenge, every improvement is part of a shared effort to build the hospital system Niagara deserves.
