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Healthiest People, Healthiest Communities, Exceptional Service

“Strategic planning at its essence is the process of making difficult choices among competing priorities and focusing the organization’s limited resources in those areas with the greatest payoffs” (Zuckerman, 2005).  Strategic planning at its best is “inquisitive, expansive, prescient, inventive, inclusive and demanding” (Hamel, 1996).  The backbone of a strategic plan includes the organization’s vision, mission and values.  The vision uses mental pictures to describe a desired future for the organization at least 10 years from now (Zuckerman, 2005).  The mission identifies in very broad terms what the organization does to achieve its vision. It is our promise to those we serve.  The values express our desired “way of being”.  

In January 2006, the Saskatoon Regional Health Authority embarked on a process to develop a three-year strategic plan for the Health Region.  The existing vision, mission and values were updated.  Five strategic directions were chosen as the most important areas to achieving our vision.  Outcomes have been identified that will mark the progress we are making in each direction.  Goals under each direction identify in greater detail what we will do to achieve the outcomes.  Each goal has targets with specific activities that will help achieve the goal.

We are now almost half way through the first year of the plan.  We are monitoring progress on the plan.

 Continued involvement from all levels of the organization and input from partners external to health care is critical.  As each employee implements the five directions in a way that fits with the work they do, our strategic plan creates the change we are aiming to achieve.