October 11, 2007

Message from: Ron Nelson, Chair, Board of Directors, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre

Congratulations to everyone involved with the launching of our “Stand-Alone Angioplasty” service. We are celebrating the treatment of our first Angioplasty patients, who received their care from Cardiologist, Dr. Marino Labinaz and his team of assistants. What we are now witnessing with this new service is a great example of “care closer to home”. Our staff and our partners at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute have made us all proud. We are an example to the country of how a “Stand-Alone” Cardiac Care Angioplasty service can work. The applause that will come from this progressive strategy has just begun.

As I say that, I note that TBRHSC is once again gearing up for another Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation to be held next spring. Peers from other healthcare organizations will examine us service by service to see how well we are doing. Every three years, we go through this “peer-review” process voluntarily so that we can examine our “blind spots” and make changes that will make us better. Evaluated against accepted healthcare standards, a verbal report is provided immediately after the survey is completed, with a detailed report to follow some time later.

As we prepare for the Accreditation, we cannot take our numerous successes lightly because so much has changed since we moved into our site three years ago. During this interval, we have made major investments in patient care all over the facility. Our corporate Strategic Plan 2010 is guiding us to greater accountability on a time-line that is impressive. We can demonstrate improvements in wait time strategies through various acute phases of care. Our partnerships with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Lakehead University, Confederation College, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Philips Medical Systems and others, will clearly demonstrate our intentions to meet or exceed standards of care. I know that our review will go well.

Many thanks to the tireless team-members in the Office of the Chief of Staff that have worked so hard to ensure that our physician complement meets our patient care needs. As I hear the recurring message that we are constantly occupying every bed in our Health Sciences Centre, including hallway spaces in the Emergency Department while utilizing nooks all over the facility, I am humbled by the way our healthcare teams respond. It is amazing, to say the least, how everyone copes under such pressure.

On behalf of the Board, I want to commend each healthcare professional, including our valued volunteers. A final congratulatory note goes to the soon-to-be-launched OR liaison service that will be provided by “retired nurses” and other volunteers in the Surgical Day Care area. Keeping families informed of progress is another significant story of care for patients and families that we can celebrate.

Again, thank you for your continuing support.

Ron Nelson, Chair
Board of Directors