Akos Hoffer began his journey to becoming CEO of Perley Health when he realized he wanted to work for a mission-driven organization.
He served the not-for-profit long-term care community for seniors and veterans in Ottawa for more than 16 years, taking the helm in 2013.
Another priority for Hoffer is working with innovative teams, which is why he leads Perley Health with an entrepreneurial mindset focused on growth.
Committed to innovation, growth and quality care
One key component of a growth mindset in nonprofits is strong relationships with people like Courtney Rock, director of development, community engagement and partnerships at Perley Health Foundation.
“We're building community partnerships that support the hard work we're doing to impact long-term care and the health care sector as a whole,” Locke said.
And with Perley Health’s three overarching pillars of long-term care delivery – quality care, research and innovation, and knowledge transfer – its impact is already reaching far beyond the facility’s boundaries.
It's a way to discover and share best practices with facilities that want to improve.
In Ontario, all long-term care facilities are required to have a quality improvement plan. Pearly Health has taken it a step further by participating in accreditation and adhering to the 575 standards of care required for accreditation. Pearly Health has met these standards with a 100 percent success rate for five consecutive years.
“We are very proud of this accomplishment as it lays the foundation for our Center of Excellence in Frailty-Informed Care,” Hoffer said. “By mastering the fundamentals, we will be able to conduct meaningful, advanced research and share results that will close gaps in the continuum of care.”
Strengthening continuity of care
One of the most impactful things Perley Health has done to enhance its continuing care is add 139 apartments on site for seniors who want to prepare for the future while still living independently.
Another initiative addressed Perley Health’s need to find quality staff.
They partnered with Algonquin College to re-establish their personal support worker (PSW) and registered nurse (RPN) programs by converting a dining room into an on-site “living classroom.”
“From the very beginning, students will be able to interact with residents, families and staff,” Hoffer said.
What is clear is that with an ageing population, the need to continue filling gaps in care grows every day.
“The community that we serve is about to double in size,” Hoffer said, “so we need to continue to grow and double the number of seniors that we serve, that's it.”
Wound care: an innovation success story
One of the biggest challenges Perley Health has solved is wound care, namely pressure injuries.
When residents develop pressure ulcers and become bedridden, it not only has a significant impact on their quality of life, but also places a significant strain on the facility's human resources.
Perley Health's research offers caregivers in any facility a proven set of steps for better wound care. “What we've developed can be immediately applied at any point of care,” Hoffer says. “The first goal is prevention, and nipping it in the bud is the second goal.”
Allowing staff to focus on caring for active residents instead of treating wounds at the bedside creates huge positive ripple effects for both residents and staff.
At Parley Health, one of those ripples has become the Century Club. “It’s a special club that takes 100 years to join,” Locke says. “This year we have over a dozen members, and the oldest is a whopping 105 years old.”
These seniors are living life to the fullest while offering simple yet wise advice like “never give up” that we can all learn from. Unfortunately, when we reached out to Roland, one of the centurions, for a comment, he was busy making beautiful wooden flowers for an upcoming craft sale and was unable to offer his opinion.
But Roland's busy schedule certainly speaks to what Pearly Health does best: reminding us that quality care can help us write a fulfilling final chapter in the book of our lives.
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