Engagement and Stakeholders

Engagement with the public is critical to the success of the planning process. RVH has held three public drop-in sessions seeking inclusive, transparent, respectful, genuine community dialogue about our bold plans for south Simcoe County.

Focus groups were held with service providers and clients of diverse communities, such as francophone, immigrants, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, seniors, vulnerable sectors, and youth, providing us the opportunity to better understand how we can be more responsive to unique needs of those communities.

We surveyed TEAM RVH, our patients and families, and the public to get feedback on RVH services at north and south campuses, as well as to assess the priorities of South Campus location and design. Many key themes have emerged which will ultimately be reflected in the South Campus.

The RVH Street Team visited local farmers markets, festivals, beaches and grocery stores to chat with the public.

We hosted a Partner Summit, including representation from police, paramedic, military, community support, acute care, long term care, municipal, education, mental health, and transportation organizations, to identify ways to foster a more collaborative system of care to better serve the community.

Over 300 staff and physician leaders participated in workshops to make big decisions about the future of their departments over the next 10-20 years. In addition to clinical services, a Support Services Summit was held to ensure corporate and non-clinical services perspectives were also taken into account.

Social media has been a great way to connect with the public and our partners, share updates, and conduct small informal polls.

The Staff Expo allowed staff to learn more about the project and provide their feedback on north and south campus services and design, try augmented reality goggles, and contribute to a collective vision board.

We engaged with staff through various sessions – town halls, coffee chats, leadership retreats, site tours and surveys to share information and get their ideas on many important facets of RVH, from patient safety and services to recruitment and culture.

Did you know that half of RVH’s patients come from outside the City of Barrie? We have grown from “Barrie’s hospital” to a very busy regional health centre with specialized services available to all residents of Simcoe Muskoka. As we plan for the future, including development of a south campus, it is important that we reach both Barrie-area residents and beyond.

We met with local family health organizations and hosted a Partner Summit, including representation from police, paramedic, military, community support, acute care, long term care, municipal, education, mental health, and transportation organizations, to identify ways to foster a more collaborative system of care to better serve the community.

We have shared our vision with municipal governments of City of Barrie, Town of Innisfil, and Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, as well as the County of Simcoe, to ensure we are planning with full knowledge of development plans and demographic projections.

Our staff, physicians, volunteers and students are the closest to patients and the care they receive. Through their day-to-day work, training, education and experience they have become experts in providing safe, high-quality care. They play a crucial role in anticipating the healthcare needs of our patients now, and in the future.

We made focused efforts to engage diverse communities such as Indigenous, LGBTQ+, vulnerable sectors (like shelters and social services), Francophone, new Canadians, seniors and youth. Although, individually, these groups form a small portion of the population, representatives advocated strongly for the unique and unmet needs of their communities.

RVH’s plans have been presented to local clubs (i.e. Rotary clubs) and associations. These groups are important to engage because they do so much to support our community. If your group is interested in hearing from us, contact us.