Board Chair Message - November 2005

We need to restore a balance between the services we are expected to deliver and the associated costs. Government officials want a balanced budget; however, it is increasingly difficult to do that because of the pressures we face.

My concern is that we are asking our healthcare workers to “try harder” at a time when I also wonder how much more “try harder” is left in them.

So, how can we satisfy all of our stakeholders, including the government, and not cut services to enable us to balance our budget?

In years past, there were scholarly tests applied to how well hospitals in Ontario were run. We performed very well given that we spread our limited resources over two sites (Port Arthur, McKellar) while also planning and overseeing the building of our new acute care site.

Now, however, it is my opinion that the standards of measurement have changed. Is it just me or has the bar been raised, so to speak, at a time when there is not a whole lot of fat left in the system? In fact, it is too lean.

As I mentioned in my note last month, the Balanced Budget process is forcing every administration team in the province to compare with each other how the “best in the business” are conducting their short and long term activities. The “wait time” strategy illustrates my concern. Make no mistake, I am fully supportive of the strategy. However, my concern regards the simplistic suggestion that if one facility has a shorter wait time for care, then all you have to do is call and set up a time when you can be cared for. While that may be the desired approach, it doesn’t speak directly to the issue of true, timely accessibility. Let’s get real here. How can you and I be expected to line up our own special care when specialists only accept physician referrals? And, how could that happen when we already have a shortage of physicians and other healthcare providers toiling with heavy workloads especially in our area? Jumping the queue may be difficult, if not impossible.

Still, I want to again commend our physicians, staff, and volunteers for keeping pace as best they can while utilizing the resources we have. I am looking forward to our report in the near future as data becomes available from the new MRI. The trend for quicker assessment times will put us in the lead in the province similar to what our three CT scanners have done for us in reducing the wait times for these patients. We are planning well, making adjustments, and moving ahead. We must be the envy of some larger cities.

Yes, there were a couple of areas mentioned in recent reports that will need special attention. They reflect specific challenges based on available resources. Things will improve. The good news is we are already leading in a number of areas of care. Congratulations to our healthcare professionals.

Sincerely,

Ron Nelson, Chair
Board of Directors

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