Connected Care –improving transitions in home & community care for children with medical complexity

As a lever for coordination, connectivity and capacity building, Connected Care is a new SickKids program that aims to improve transitions and reduce variation in specialized paediatric practice from hospital to home/community care for Children with Medical Complexity and Technology Dependence. Connected Care engages to share and learn with partners in the five Greater Toronto Area- Local Health Integration Networks including Family Advisors, Care Coordinators, Service Provider Organizations/Home Care, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, and other leading paediatric provider agencies.

Through development and testing of services, Connected Care is innovating to deliver three service pillars:

1) PAEDIATRIC EDUCATION- providing 1:1 teaching for families pending discharge and simulation based workshops for home/community nurses for greater than 8 topics,

2) VIRTUAL OUTREACH- hosting 24/7 ‘real time’ consultations via text/talk/video with SickKids nurses for home/community nurses, and

3) BRIDGED TRANSITIONS- supporting more families with safe and 'warm handovers' of accountability from SickKids to their home/community providers. Join us to hear about Connected Care’s background, future state and next steps.

Presenters

Krista Keilty, NP-Paeds, PhD, Practice Lead, Connected Care

Krista Keilty is a Nurse Practitioner at the Hospital for Sick Children and draws on decades of diverse professional experience to lead hospital and system-wide initiatives that integrate care delivery, promote professional practice and advance Child & Family-Centred Care for children with medical complexity and their families. Krista completed a PhD and post-doctoral studies at The University of Toronto and currently holds active investigator appointments with both the SickKids and Bloorview Research Institutes. Her program of research targets improved experiences and outcomes for family caregivers of children who are medically complex and technology dependent across the continuum of care. Krista’s greatest passion is partnering with individuals and teams to promote the child, family and provider experience with transitions from hospital to home and community.

Stephanie Chu, RN, MN, Education Lead, Connected Care

Stephanie Chu started her nursing career at SickKids 15 years ago in the Blood and Marrow Transplant department. She completed her undergraduate nursing degree at University of Ottawa and her graduate degree at University of Toronto. Over the years, she has taken on various roles throughout the organization in advanced practice, clinical technology and education. Her experiences at SickKids have provided her the opportunity to be involved in many hospital-wide projects and programs including the implementation of smart pumps, the development of an online paediatric assessment course and the development of an innovative undergraduate nursing program at SickKids. Currently, she is the Education Lead for Connected Care’s Paediatric Education Program developing and implementing a standardized, competency-based program for family caregivers and community health care providers.


Tomasz Czarny, PhD, MBA, Strategy Lead, Connected Care

Tomasz joined SickKids in 2016 with a focus on the development and implementation of various programs/ partnerships supporting the safe and effective transitions of children with medical complexity and their families from hospital to home/ community. Tomasz holds an MBA from The Schulich School of Business and completed his PhD in biomedical sciences at McMaster University. Tomasz combines his research, technology and administrative knowledge as the Strategy Lead for Connected Care focusing across all three pillars of the program.

Kate Langrish RN, MN, Clinical Director, Paediatric Medicine, Complex Care Patient Access and Connected Care

Kate Langrish is the Clinical Director for Paediatric Medicine, Complex Care, Patient Access and the newly launched Connected Care program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Kate is a proud SickKids nurse, privileged in her current role to lead truly outstanding teams within her diverse portfolio to continually raise the bar in patient access, patient safety and patient/family experience. Over the course of her career, spanning nearly 2 decades practicing and leading in complex paediatric hospital environments, she has acquired a unique blend of clinical, operational and strategic expertise. Her passions include health system integration, quality improvement and developing the next generation of health care leaders. Kate completed her undergraduate degree in nursing at Queens University and her Masters in nursing with a clinical paediatric focus at the University of Toronto.