Board Chair Message - January 2007

As we start a new year, each of us with new goals and aspirations, it is clear to all of us in a leadership position that we need to applaud the people who are helping us build on the growing healthcare reputation that TBRHSC enjoys. Reputation is built on credibility and trust. Credibility is founded in expertise and experience. Trust is earned. It matters. We are fortunate to be working among a gifted group of people; people who fulfill their role and care of patients.

I thought about this recently when I watched some of our Housekeeping personnel at work. They were performing their duties as if quality care was central to everything they did. It was impressive because it spoke to me about how healthcare is all about teamwork. No matter what we do, if we are committed to performing our roles to the best of our abilities, it will result in great patient care.

Another thing that has impressed me lately is the attention to detail that I see among departments that are also part of the support staff at TBRHSC. I’m thinking of the people who aren’t directly involved in patient care but are nonetheless central to everything our healthcare workers do. You don’t often see these folks, but they are hard at work: they don’t know I am writing this, but our Corporate Product Buyers - whose sole function is to find the best quality materials, tools, equipment, and so on, possible at the lowest cost – are serving patients indirectly. They work quietly making sure that our patients have the best opportunity for care and recovery that they can get, but they do it at “arms length”, if you will. We even share our purchasing prowess with other organizations that need to save money as part of a volume purchasing group. I like that. It is impressive.

And then there are the Information Technology and Systems (IT/IS) people who rescue people all over the facility from computer virus infections, crashes, and sluggish technology. Next, we have in a similar way, our Biomedical staff members are always busy maintaining and recalibrating medical equipment. They support our corporate equipment strategies to enable the delivery of healthcare to our patients. We are dependent on these special people that are part of the healthcare team. The thing is, I could go through our entire organization and talk about people who most of us never see, but are nevertheless essential to the care we provide by keeping our “systems” running smoothly.

I invite everyone to commend these people when you next see them. Encourage them in their work. We have something very special going on at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre which I do not want anyone to overlook. It takes a total team effort.

Thank you for your continued support.

Ron Nelson, Chair
Board of Directors

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