Board Chair Message - April 2006

One, the Board of Directors continues to lobby officials with the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to get them to recognize that healthcare in the north is different from the rest of the province and that we should be funded to address those differences. We feel that we are not being listened to.

A second related issue has to do with how busy our Emergency Department can get. We, at times, are one of the busiest ER/Trauma Units in Ontario. The Director of our Emergency Department told me that we recently set a one-day record of 305 patients. The Waiting Room was full, as was every space in the Department. The ER staff was overwhelmed looking after extremely ill/injured patients and those with lesser health difficulties.

When the ER is overwhelmed, so are other departments because the ER physicians are requesting lab tests, diagnostic imaging, and so on for patients. If a patient needs to be “observed” longer, that space is not available to someone waiting to be seen.

I asked our ER Director the question, “What if the rest of TBRHSC is full, where do we put the patients who may need to be moved to “in-patient” status”? Her answer: “They stay in the Emergency Department. If they get an in-patient bed, then hopefully, a hospitalist or family physician will pick up the patient. If not, we have a bigger problem”. And then I asked, “What if patients from the region need to come to Thunder Bay, then what”? Her answer: “It is self-evident. They would be coming to a chaotic environment. Is that appropriate patient care? We feel all patients in Northwestern Ontario should be able to access our services and expect quality care”.

We need alternate methods of funding for physicians who want to work at TBRHSC. It is about the principle of funding basic healthcare. The Board of Directors feels that we must direct Ministry healthcare officials to address this growing and pressing need. Otherwise, we may have to shut down some services.

I commend our paediatricians and related professionals, for example, for averting a major shutdown of a number of services recently that would have affected our Maternal Newborn Department so much so that every mother giving birth would have had to be “shipped out”. That is unacceptable in my mind.

I bring these examples of care to your attention because I want the MoHLTC to understand that we just want to be funded appropriately to look after our patients. The people we are serving want and deserve better.

We are in the midst of a Strategic Planning process that will enable us to achieve our goals for the next few years. We know we can’t remain at our current status.

Again, I commend our talented and dedicated physicians, staff, and volunteers.

Sincerely,

Ron Nelson, Chair
Board of Directors

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