Bluewater Health planning for French-language service improvements

Changes to signs, forms, and other things are underway at Bluewater Health to better accommodate patients in both official languages.

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While there’s no specific timeline for when bilingual forms and phone greetings will become the norm, the Sarnia-Lambton hospital group is working with community partners on phasing those changes in, said Bluewater Health CEO and president Paula Reaume-Zimmer.

“Nov. 1, we’re declaring our official commitment to be better partners to our French-language community,” she said. “So it really just puts the wheels in motion for that work.”

Nearly three years ago Sarnia was designated as the 27th area in Ontario to provide French-language services under the French Language Services Act, starting the clock for provincial government offices in the city to offer French language services by Nov. 1, 2024.

Government-funded service providers like Bluewater Health have more leeway.

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While Bluewater Health doesn’t need to meet all of its 20 designation requirements by that date, it has to demonstrate progress to Ontario Health at the end of each fiscal year — ending in March — a recent report to the hospital group’s board of directors says.

Other requirements include updating websites in French, identifying bilingual employees, offering training for others, identifying a senior manager to oversee and be accountable for French-language service delivery, and having a human resources strategy, to hire and retain personnel proficient in French.

“Definitely (bilingualism) will be a stronger emphasis than it’s been” when it comes to hiring, Reaume-Zimmer said.

A committee of Bluewater Health and Sarnia-Lambton Ontario Health Team officials is scheduled to meet in January to develop a comprehensive work plan for Bluewater Health, the report says.

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“There’s definitely a willingness to our French-language designation as a whole sector — improve health care and social service,” Reaume-Zimmer said.

“So I think we’ll have good progress.”

Bluewater Health’s Petrolia campus, Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital, isn’t bound by Sarnia’s designation, but will still see changes, Reaume-Zimmer said.

“We’re going to provide any of the advantages for the French-language designation to both sites,” she said.

The Sarnia-Lambton Ontario Health Team (OHT) that partners with 44 local health and social service providers, including Bluewater Health, is also applying for grants to help those agencies with things like training, including around linguistic sensitivity, said executive lead Nadine Neve.

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Work is also underway to create a central place where organizations can send documents for translation, she said.

At least one service, a community navigation line, will have someone answering the phones in English and French as of Nov. 1, she noted.

“A number of our partner organizations have work plans already in place,” she said, noting part of the OHT’s role is to share education opportunities and resources.

The health team is also looking for French speakers to sit on an OHT Patient, Family, Care Partner Council that provides feedback, from a patient perspective, to partner agencies as they consider various initiatives and programs, she said.

People interested can email [email protected].

Bluewater Health also uses video-conferencing app Voyce for translation in more than 240 languagesReaume-Zimmer noted.

“I’ve really heard some nice patient stories where the best clinical decisions were being made because people had a very clear understanding, and a much better communication experience,” she said.

[email protected]

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