The staff, Professional Staff, and volunteers at Bluewater Health are engaged and dedicated to our Purpose Statement:
Health through partnership
Caring with kindness
For more information about our priorities and goals, please visit Strategic Plan 2021-2026.
Our Culture
We strive to instill a Culture of Kindness and Wellness within Bluewater Health and develop initiatives to support and promote care for the people who care for Emily. We know that taking care of the overall health of our hospital family allows them to be the best they can be when providing care for our patients and families.
Bluewater Health focuses on creating and maintaining a workplace of choice, where our people are recognized and valued. We celebrate our staff each year at the annual Recognition Ceremony, where we acknowledge service levels for all staff, Professional Staff and volunteers at five-year increment levels. It is not uncommon to be celebrating the service of 35 and 40-year recipients!
The daily commitment to service at the front lines of our dedicated and engaged staff, Professional Staff and volunteers results in endless possibilities. Some of our exceptional people are featured in the short video called “WE ARE BLUEWATER HEALTH.” Together, we are proud and humbled to care for the residents of Sarnia-Lambton, and committed to being the best community hospital in Ontario.
Developing the Leader in You
Bluewater Health is committed to individual, team, and organizational development. The personal and professional development of our people helps to ensure we provide exemplary care that unleashes the expertise and contributions of our current and aspiring leaders. A few highlighted programs in place to support the growth of our leaders are:
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Leading in the Middle — focuses on strengthening skills and knowledge related to everyday leadership practices. The spectrum on content is covered in three modules: The Inside Out (Me as Leader), Around Me (Me Impacting Others), and Surround Me (The System and the Organization).
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Innovative Management — is designed to impact both leadership approaches and our leaders’ careers. Embedded in the entire curriculum is the role leaders play in ensuring their teams understand and support Bluewater Health’s Patient and Family-Centred Care philosophy and our quest to ensure a healthy work environment that focuses on a culture of kindness and well-being.
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Board of Governors Certificate Program, Healthcare Management & Leadership Development — was designed in partnership with Lambton College as a one-year learning opportunity for community leaders to share and explore experiences and dialogue, and learn together in both the classroom and through application in their workplaces and in our community. Topics include learning about self, leading teams, coaching, finance, human resources, quality improvement, and leading change. This program ends with a capstone project that focuses on working in the community and sharing back discoveries and insights with the group.
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Strategic Leadership Retreats — provide a venue for our entire leadership team to come together to connect, recognize and celebrate the ongoing progress of Bluewater Health’s strategy.
"In the Leading in the Middle program, I learned tools to better understand myself and others, how to communicate more effectively with other people and how to problem solve and navigate change and transition in a positive way. I became more comfortable asserting myself and speaking in public. I learned to think appreciatively and consider other people’s views in a new way. I brought these ideas back to work and used them with success. I am thankful to Bluewater Health as an organization for making the choice to invest in their middle leaders."
Dana Vanderaa, Physiotherapist
Manager, Rehabilitation Therapy Services, Bluewater Health
Continuous Learning Opportunities
Bluewater Health believes that our people are our most valuable asset. We are committed to attracting, enhancing and retaining the best people possible. Therefore, we are committed to creating an inspiring environment that awakens the best in the human spirit and encourages all hospital staff to participate in lifelong learning. To this end, Bluewater Health offers a number of learning opportunities. An education calendar is published multiple times per year and is available on the intranet.
Evidence-based resources can be accessed through the Bluewater Health Library Resources website http://www.wohkn.com/bwhlibrary.
Financial Support for Education
Bluewater Health, in partnership with Bluewater Health Foundation and through the generous support of donors, has made funds available through the Staff Education Assistance Program (SEAP) to help with the cost of educational courses/programs and support you on your continuous learning journey.