Board Chair Message - June 2007

It has been one year since the TBRHSC Board of Directors endorsed a new Strategic Plan through the year 2010. Our course of action is a bold initiative and is designed to incrementally take us from being regarded as a good community hospital to an academic Health Sciences Centre with a reputation for excellence that is recognized nationally and beyond.

I commend Ron Saddington and his leadership team for implementing a comprehensive plan to achieve our goals. There have been incremental gains in every part of our organization. In some cases, the positive change has seen us establish “best practice” standards that other facilities are trying to emulate. I am confident that we are seeking innovative ways to help patients achieve the best possible outcome, in a quality-controlled environment.

As patients entrust themselves to physicians and care teams in our complex medical environment, much improvement in care can be attributed to a number of people including Vice President, Medical and Academic Affairs, and Chief of Staff, Dr. Gordon Porter. In addition, Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, Vice President of E.R., Critical Care, Trauma and Surgery and Chief Nursing Officer, is instituting a new Model of Care that will have great impact on our organization. For a profession that has been recreating itself since Florence Nightengale, it is amazing how much more can be done. As well, Lori Marshall, Vice President of Medicine, Cardiology, Mental Health and Maternal/Child is advancing patient care on a number of fronts including Angioplasty and Coronary Cardiac Service. Our strategies are timely as we seek ways to keep our patients “closer to home”. A case in point is the recent award-winning Regional Cardiac Rehabilitation Program that Gwen Third and Caterina Kmill offer in cooperation with our world-class Telehealth service. As Tara Tyson, Director, Quality and Risk Management worked tirelessly to advance the patient quality control agenda, so did Bruce Sutton, Chief Information Officer and his exceptional team in IS/IT. They continue to deliver first-rate technology platforms from which we can do our work.

Michael Power, Vice President Regional Cancer and Diagnostic Services, has been leading various care teams as well as pursuing the Molecular Medicine Research Centre. I believe the MMRC will transform the vision we have for ourselves. Our vision is becoming a reality as we launch into the world of discovery. It is exciting. We see an opportunity to directly translate research into better patient care. We expect that cancer patients and cardiac patients will benefit directly from the efforts of the world-class scientists at the Molecular Medicine Research Centre.

Another important strategic consideration is that medical students in their third year of training at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine will soon be training alongside practicing physicians at TBRHSC. We will notice a big change to our cultural environment confirming that TBRHSC has made the shift from a community hospital to an academic Health Sciences Centre.

The business of healthcare is undergoing great change with significant challenges, so it is a tribute to Scott Potts, Senior Vice President Corporate Services and Operations, his associates, and all our Management Team that our finances are in order. Congratulations, everyone!

The Annual Meeting of the Corporation on June 21st will review some of the gains I just mentioned, and many more. After the Board meeting, the Directors will convene to select the leadership team of the Board who will lead us into the second year of Strategic Plan 2010.

I am completing my third year as the Chair of the Board. It is a privilege to serve you.

Ron Nelson, Chair
Board of Directors

Back to Board Messages