Helping Patients Breathe Easier at Home: Community Respiratory Services Receives Quality and Person-Centered Care Partnership Award

At Lakeridge Health, person-centered care means actively listening, working together, and ensuring patients and families are active partners in their own care. It is how we build trust, improve outcomes, and support people through some of the most important transitions in their health-care journey. 

Each year, the Quality and Person-Centered Care Partnership Award recognizes a team that demonstrates this commitment by partnering with patients and families to improve care. 

This year's award goes to Community Respiratory Services (CRS) for their project, Improving Patient Experience Through Safe and Timely Hospital to Home Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BiPap) Transitions. 

The initiative focused on helping patients with complex respiratory conditions transition safely from hospital to home while using BiPAP therapy – a treatment that uses a specialized machine and mask to help people breathe more easily, particularly while sleeping. 

For many patients and families, going home on BiPAP therapy can feel overwhelming. Many shared concerns about discharge delays, equipment support, funding and setup processes, and knowing who to contact if questions or issues came up after leaving hospital. 

In response, the team redesigned the discharge process by involving patients and Essential Partners-in-Care (EPCs) earlier, listening to their experiences, and ensuring they felt informed, prepared, and supported before returning home. Their feedback led to improvements including earlier education, clearer communication between care teams, more individualized support plans, and greater confidence for caregivers. 

Over 12 months, the team successfully supported 14 patients in transitioning from hospital to home on BiPAP therapy. Thirteen of those patients were not readmitted due to hypercarbia (high levels of carbon dioxide in the blood), highlighting the impact of proactive planning, strong coordination, and person-centered care. 

"This project is an outstanding example of what person-centered care looks like in practice," said Sameena Najmuddin, Manager Community Respiratory Services at Lakeridge Health. "The team identified an opportunity to improve the care experience, partnered across disciplines and organizations, and achieved meaningful results for patients and families. Their work demonstrates how collaboration and continuous improvement can lead to safer, higher-quality care." 

Learn more about Lakeridge Health’s commitment to Person-Centred Care.