Kris Birchard

In his 11th year serving  with the Board of Directors of Perley Health, Kris Birchard says that volunteering and serving as Chair of the Board were privileges. “It has been a marvelous experience, in a wonderful place. What I see here is a culture of safety, and of family. When you walk around this place, you feel like you actually belong here.”

Now serving as an Honourary Director of the Board, Kris' sentiment is shared by the entire Perley Health team. Across the spectrum -- frontline workers, people in the executive offices, people who provide security services, people who maintain the property, and of course, Perley's 400 or so volunteers – all are determined to ensure excellent service for Seniors and Veterans.

The Perley Health Board of Directors advocates for change. They do so by building relationships with community, donors, related facilities, and governments. “Advocacy is one of our pillars, our core principles,” Kris says.

Such efforts have earned Perley Health and its staff national recognition. Accreditation Canada, an organization that assesses health service providers against global standards, gives Perley Health “the highest status there is” for its level of care. Kris credits Perley Health's family-like culture and outstanding staff, with achieving recognized improved quality of life for Seniors and Veterans.

In his early years on the Board, Kris was impressed with fellow Director Margaret Tansey's commitment to the principle of person-centred care. “What she meant by that was that we should deliver care for Seniors and Veterans that is focused on the person, and not the overall structure or simply ticking boxes.”

With advocacy and person-centred care as guiding principles, Perley Health developed the SeeMe® program. That system of protocols and collaborative procedures to deliver specific care plans includes input from the resident, staff, and family. Kris says that person-centred care has proven to be positive for the residents, whether it's overcoming a behaviour challenge or dealing with health issues.

Kris notes that another factor in Perley Health's long-term care leadership is its inherent advantages, including sheer size. With more than 900 staff and about 400 volunteers providing services to 600 residents each day, Perley Health is larger than most other 600 long-term care homes in the province. Economies of scale, and the ability to have more specialized staff and resources, serve Perley's mission to share its best practices. That mission got a big boost recently. A capital campaign raised $10 million for Perley Health, to fund the Centre of Excellence In Frailty-Informed Care™.

The communications strategy for capital fundraising included wowing donors and community members with “seeing-is-believing” tours of Perley Health. Guests absorbed the safe, family feel and learned about variety of engaging programs offered to residents. Visitors understood how unique Perley Health's value proposition is, Kris says. “We are building community relationships, even among government stakeholders. It's a whole lot easier to get a favour from a friend than from a stranger.”

Establishing collaborative relationships to further its advocacy with government continues to be a priority for Perley Health, through the Boards of Directors of Perley Health and the Perley Health Foundation. Kris looks forward to passing-on lessons learned, with new Board members. Those lessons include Perley Health's response to the COVID-19 crisis, which straddled Kris' term as Board Chair. It is time to transition from a rebuilding phase, to post-COVID-19 renewal and revived strategies for improving Ontario's long-term care sector, he says.

One lasting image of the COVID-19 pandemic for Kris is the way media shone a light on distressing conditions in some long-term care facilities. Fewer than 200 of Ontario's 600 or so long-term homes were the subject of negative coverage but the coverage cast a shadow over all long-term care providers. Meanwhile, Perley Health stepped-up for the Seniors and Veterans in their care and rebuffed the worst impacts of the pandemic. With everyone pulling together, the facility came through the crisis with minimal deaths due to COVID-19. “That will always stand out for me,” Kris says.

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"I'm very proud of the fact that we see it as a responsibility - as a mission – for this organization to share and help others.” - Kris Birchard, Volunteer, Board Member, Past Chair