North York General Hospital’s Family Advisor wins prestigious Minister’s Medal

Margo Twohig, a volunteer patient and family advisor at North York General Hospital (NYGH), has been awarded a 2017 Minister's Medal for her contributions as a patient, family and caregiver champion at the hospital.

Margo, winner of the Minister's Medal Honouring Excellence in Health Quality and Safety (individual), has been a Patient and Family Advisor at NYGH since 2012, and has been the co-chair of the hospital's Patient and Family Advisory Council since its inception. Her numerous contributions to over 15 hospital projects include redesigning the chemotherapy clinic, enhancing comfort for cancer patients and the development of information pamphlets for patients and families.

Margo has also played a pivotal role on 10 committees, councils, boards and task forces ranging from Accreditation to the Research Ethics Board; shared her patient perspective on hiring 5 clinical chiefs, patient experience staff and research chairs; and serves as a patient representative on several provincial and local organizations such as Health Quality Ontario and the Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN). Her advisory work has made a difference at the bedside, in environmental design, hospital policy, and organizational strategy.

“As a highly engaged and committed Patient and Family Advisor, Margo exemplifies NYGH's key values of excellence, respect, integrity, and compassion and embodies the four pillars of patient- and family-centred care. She is an inspiration to our staff, physicians, volunteers and other patient and family advisors throughout our hospital and has truly made a very positive difference at North York General and beyond.”
     — Tim Rutledge, President and CEO, North York General Hospital

“Margo is an active contributor, advisor, leader and patient advocate. Her years of commitment, influence and outreach as a patient voice to identify gaps and strengthen the health system is incredible. We are fortunate to have her lived experience and perspectives that will lead to meaningful positive changes in our region's health care.”
     
— Kim Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Central Local Health Integration Network

“The 2017 recipients of the Minister's Medal are only a few examples of the incredible and long-lasting impact that our health care professionals have on the quality of patients' lives across Ontario. The winners worked hard to ensure that local priorities and health system issues were addressed in collaboration with the people they matter to most – patients, caregivers and their families.”
  
   — Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care

Quick Facts

  • The Minister's Medal to honour excellence in health quality and safety is a competitive, annual recognition program that celebrates the collaborative efforts of Ontario's health care providers in improving care for Ontarians.
  • This was the fifth year of the Minister's Medal program.
  • The medals are awarded to one individual who has demonstrated leadership in focusing on quality; one team-based initiative that demonstrated commitment to collaboration, improvements in the health system and value for quality care; and a patient advisor who enhanced patient engagement within their community. 
  • North York General Hospital, affiliated with the University of Toronto, is one of Canada's leading community academic hospitals. We offer our diverse community a wide range of acute care, ambulatory and long-term care services across three sites. Through partnerships, collaboration and academic endeavours, we seek to set new standards for patient- and family-centred care. Working together with our patients and their families, we are making a world of difference.
  • NYGH's 4 Pillars of Patient- and Family-Centred Care:
    • Respect & Dignity
    • Information Sharing
    • Participation 
    • Collaboration
  • The Central LHIN, a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario, is responsible for planning, funding and integrating local health services, as well as delivering home and community care services. The Central LHIN holds accountability agreements with over 90 health service providers, including hospitals, long-term care homes, community health centres, mental health and addiction service providers, and other community support services. The LHIN also works with public health and primary care to focus on patient experience across the full continuum of health care. The Central LHIN, which spans Etobicoke, northern Toronto, York Region and South Simcoe County, has over 1.8 million residents.

View the news release. 

Watch the video on YouTube. Watch a video on Margo Twohig produced by the Ontario Government. 

For media inquiries, contact:
Amanda Sexton, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
North York General Hospital
416-756-6127
amanda.sexton@nygh.on.ca

Cheryl Cheung, Communications Manager
Central Local Health Integration Network
905-948-1872 ext. 255 or 416-435-1818
mailto:Ccheryl.cheung@lhins.on.ca

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