Board Chair Message - October 2005

The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre continues an exhaustive review of costs associated with all services and departments. It is part of the Hospital Annual Planning Submission (HAPS) to the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. HAPS is also an important precursor to the Hospital Accountability Agreement with the Ministry. The Accountability Agreement has enormous implications for acute healthcare in the region of Northwestern Ontario should revenues and expenses not balance. We know that the MoH is emphatic that budgets must balance. However, to accomplish this may require changes in service. As always, we will seek direction from the Ministry.

We are not going through this alone as numerous other public hospitals in Ontario are facing similar Accountability Agreements. The Agreement for TBRHSC means budgets for the years 2005/06 and 2006/07 will be established with planning and negotiation obligations applying to 2007/2008. TBRHSC will be expected to hit performance targets and standards based on the terms and conditions that will have been negotiated. Approved by the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer and the Chair of the Board will sign the Accountability Agreement on behalf of our Health Sciences Centre.

I want to commend all staff and the Senior Administration Team for a job well done. It makes the work of the Board of Directors much easier. Having said that, the choices that Board Members face in the future, should the MOHLTC not fund us appropriately, will force us to make some difficult decisions on what services we deliver in order to meet our budget obligations.

We must remain vigilant. We need to convince the Ministry that we are indeed unique in the province because of our relatively small population and our higher than average disease rate in some areas. We provide a wide range of programs to a reduced critical mass of patients dispersed over a large area of Ontario. he Ministry needs to understand this or advise us what services we should drop.

To this end, the Accountability Agreement obligates the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care in three major areas. The first obligation is to provide funding to our Health Sciences Centre. We will need to make certain the funding is at the appropriate level. Secondly, the Ministry agrees it will provide timely approvals for comments on written hospital submissions. Finally, the Ministry agrees it will fulfill its planning obligations, including the timely announcement of funding allocations.

We know that our failure to comply with performance and planning obligations has its consequences, which include facing a financial penalty. Importantly, the agreement has enough latitude that allows issues and disputes to be resolved in an informal manner on those factors beyond our control.

In all of our deliberations, we are practicing due diligence with regards to healthcare quality assurance issues. It reflects our Vision “to deliver world-class health care”.

One final note. I want to commend a key member of our Board who is leaving us to take up new responsibilities with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Dr. Blair Schoales has been our Chief of Staff for six years. Besides carrying on with his Ophthalmology practice, he has been responsible for overseeing our clinical and physician activities. He has worked tirelessly and we thank him for his efforts and for his able representation to the Board. He will provide us with a wonderful liaison with the School of Medicine.

As we move into another busy season I want to wish all of our staff, physicians, and volunteers the best. Our Board of Directors thanks you.

Sincerely,

Ron Nelson, Chair
Board of Directors

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