SJCCC
December 2023
SJCCC’s RCM program gains province-wide awareness
The Remote Care Monitoring (RCM) program at St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre (SJCCC)
in Cornwall, Ontario, was selected as part of a research study conducted by the Centre for
Digital Health Evaluation and Women’s College Hospital to understand what makes remote
monitoring programs successful.
Dr. Ibukun Abejirinde, leading the development of a pan-Canadian framework for Digital Health
Evaluation, conducted the study based on information provided by six Ontario-based Hospitals.
Apart from SJCCC, other Hospitals selected for analysis were Health Sciences North/Horizon
Santé-Nord (HSN), Michael Garron Hospital (MGH), Riverside Health Care (RHC), Salvation
Army Toronto Grace Health Centre (TGHC), and William Osler Health System (WOHS),
respectively from Central and Northern Ontario.
SJCCC’s program, the only program selected from eastern Ontario, was identified as “high
technology, high equity” within Dr. Abejirinde’s model based upon its collaboration with other
local partners, digital literacy training, and bilingual pathways, with zero cost to patients.
The research provides several key findings and recommendations for other hospitals in Ontario
to improve the design of RCM programs and better integrate them to address health inequities
using digital health.
The evaluation looked at literature reviews and case studies involving interviews with patients,
caregivers, organizational leads, and health system partners of SJCCC, such as the Cornwall
SD&G Paramedics and Cornwall Community Hospital. Partners expressed that SJCCC’s
program was like “having another set of eyes on discharged patients, particularly those with
limited support networks at home and in the community.”
One geriatric rehabilitation patient shared her experience with researchers:
“It made me more aware of my high blood pressure and sort of what not and what to do. I
learned from the program…[It kept me] in contact with the doctor. It got me through a difficult
time.”
In June 2020, SJCCC identified RCM as a strategic priority as a means of complementing its
Slow Paced Rehabilitation program, when patients transitioned home. The initial rollout of the
RCM program created the first “Clinical Pathway” for frail, geriatric, and at-risk transitions from
‘Hospital to Home’ and was the first program of its kind in Ontario.
“We feel honoured to have our RCM program selected as a participant in a research study of
this magnitude,” said Gizanne Lafrance Allaire, Executive Director. “It’s been three years since
