LITTLE CURRENT—Paula Fields, a nurse manager at the Manitoulin Health Centre (MHC), has been named a North East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) Healthy Change Champion for her work collaborating with other service providers to improve patient care.
“Paula does a great job in building relationships with other professionals and providers. She really understands that improving and smoothing the transitions of care—the hand-offs between one organization and the next—is so important for patients,” said Louise Paquette, CEO of the North East LHIN, during a visit to the MHC last week. “This is one of our priorities as LHINs. We want to create a health care system that is easier to navigate with seamless transitions of care. Paula really gets this and is working to make it happen.”
Born and raised on Manitoulin Island, Ms. Fields understands the dynamics of providing quality health care in a rural area that pulls in several small municipalities and seven First Nation reserves. With more than 15 years of experience working for various health care organizations including community Aboriginal Health Authorities, long term care homes, and hospital settings, Ms. Fields continuously searches for opportunities to improve patient care.
Ms. Fields sits on a number of committees devoted to improving health care for all Islanders including the chair of the Manitoulin Network of Health Care providers, Seniors’ Service provider group and the Mental Health and Addiction committee. Not only does she bring her clinical knowledge and expertise to these tables, but she consistently strives to put the patient at the centre of all conversations and local decision making.
Despite her busy day to day work, Ms. Fields is also the lead for a number of LHIN-led quality improvement initiatives including two senior friendly pilots as well as projects to improve the discharge planning and the patient flow process at her hospital. She also dedicates much time and effort building relationship with Family Health Teams, First Nation providers and Community Support Services.
“Paula is a health care leader who is truly making a difference for Manitoulin Island,” said Ms. Paquette.
