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City Council recognizes Divisional Awards

City Council recognizes Long-Term Care Homes & Services for its high quality care and customer service innovations by acknowledging receipt of the national, Accreditation with Exemplary Standing and the provincial, Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors (OANHSS) Innovation and Excellence Workplace Quality Award, noting Toronto seniors and those in need of long-term care are fortunate that the division are leaders in excellence.

Diversity Initiative receives City Manager's Award

Long-Term Care Homes & Services was recognized in the Human Rights, Equity and Diversity category with a City Manager's Award for creating the first lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender toolkit; an effort to ensure that LGBT seniors living in the community would not face discrimination if they needed to enter a long-term care home.

Innovation & Excellence Workplace Quality Award

Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors (OANHSS) has awarded Long-Term Care Homes & Services with the 2012 Innovation and Excellence Workplace Quality Award, recognizing the practical and creative programs and strategies for fostering workplace excellence and for the engagement of program staff in reducing incidents resulting in musculoskeletal disorders.

Volunteer Youth Summit

Fifty-one (51) youth volunteers from the City's long-term care homes attended the 5th Annual Volunteer Youth Summit to share their volunteer experiences, discuss the resident-focused programs they have implemented and plan for the future. The enthusiasm, energy and positive attitude displayed by these students guarantees a bright future for them and for the residents they support in the homes.

Quality Fair - Celebrate, Recognize and Share

Staff came together as part of the 2011 Quality Fair to celebrate and recognize Quality Improvement Projects and Achievements. Sharing information and transferring knowledge among the homes and community programs is a direct benefit of the exchange as we seek to make improvements for residents and clients while generating efficiencies that have positive measurable impacts on worklife.

Health Quality Ontario Residents First Improvement Awards

All ten (10) long-term care homes are being recognized with inaugural Residents First Awards. Each home has been involved in quality improvement initiatives ranging from Falls Prevention to Pressure Ulcer Prevention to Process Improvements Using Lean Methodology.

Residents First is an innovative and comprehensive quality improvement initiative supporting long-term care homes across the province that provide an environment for residents that enhances their quality of life.

Toronto Challenge exceeds half million dollars for Seniors

Thousands of runners and walkers took part in the 20th annual Toronto Challenge presented by MonsterMortgage.ca raising $510,000 to enhance the quality of life for residents in Toronto Long-Term Care Homes and Services and another 43 community groups that support seniors throughout Toronto. Participants of all abilities, ranging in age from 1 to 101 years, took to the streets around Metro Hall participating in either the 5k run, 5k walk or the 1k fun walk. Awards and medals were presented to the top finishers in each event; result times and photos are posted at www.toronto.ca/challenge

2011 Innovation and Excellence - Supporting Seniors Award

OANHSS (Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors) recognize Toronto Long-Term Care Homes and Services with the 2011 Innovation and Excellence - Supporting Seniors Award for the division's Youth Volunteering Program.

Mayor proclaimed June as Seniors' Month

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, representatives of the City of Toronto and members of the Toronto Seniors Forum were on hand during the proclamation and celebration called "Seniors on the Move toward an Age-Friendly City". The Mayor encouraged everyone to recognize and celebrate the many accomplishments of our seniors and the contributions they make to our communities.

TESS "Make a Chair Available" Award

Congratulations - Long-Term Care Homes & Services were recognized and received an award for participation in the Job Incentive Program that provides unpaid work opportunities enabling people to develop skills and gain experience as they transition to employment.

Toronto Employment & Social Services (TESS) challenged all City divisions to "Make a Chair Available" in their workplaces and develop opportunities that were interesting and meaningful to candidates and divisions.

At the first of what will become annual awards, TESS recognized Long-Term Care Homes & Services as the Winner Greatest Quantity of Opportunities (in relation to their staffing complement).

Excellence in Volunteering

Volunteers are at the heart of Toronto Long-Term Care Homes and Services, improving quality of life for residents. During National Volunteer Week, a ceremony was held at City Hall and the Excellence in Volunteering Awards presented. In the past year, approximately 2,000 people of all ages, neighbourhoods, and backgrounds volunteered almost 138,000 hours within the division. These extraordinary people are vital to the day-to-day life of the homes, helping to make them vibrant and enjoyable places to live. Volunteers are true partners in care, supporting services that respect, support and enable residents.

Health Arts Society Concerts

Health Arts Society, a group dedicated to providing the enjoyment and stimulation of professionally performed music for the benefit of long-term care residents who are no longer able to attend performances in the community, launched a series of ArtsWay concerts recently in the City of Toronto's ten homes. The performers are professionals from organizations such as the Canadian Opera Company, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and University of Toronto Faculty of Music. The pilot performance featured cast members of the Canadian Opera Company's production of Mozart's The Magic Flute who generously performed a 45-minute concert of excerpts from the opera.

Canada Blooms

At the close of the Canada Blooms annual gardening festival, 700 flowers and potted plants were transported to Castleview Wychwood Towers for distribution to residents living in long-term care. Working with neighbourhood groups and community partners, plants that the volunteers had collected were also allocated to nearby senior homes and programs. This is the fourth consecutive year Canada Blooms have made this type of donation to seniors and after experiencing such a long winter, were very grateful to have a fragrant and colourful plant in their room to look nurture.

Innovative Youth Volunteers

The OAHNSS (Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors) Awards Program recognizes outstanding leaders, voluntary contributions and innovative programs and techniques in the provision of care and/or services for seniors in the not-for-profit sector. This year, the Innovation and Excellence Award - Supporting Seniors was given to the Youth Volunteer Program at Long-Term Care Homes and Services. Youth are an important part of the volunteer team presently one in three of our active volunteers is under the age of 18 and by giving youth volunteers leadership opportunities, students stay beyond the 40-hour high school service requirement.