November, 2009

Message from: Ingrid Parkes, Chair, Board of Directors, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre

The influenza season is creating resource challenges for us. Initial supplies of the vaccine were directed toward people under 65 with chronic conditions, healthy children six months to under five years of age, people living in remote communities, and healthcare workers. Let’s hope that the public immunization strategy works because the TBRHSC Emergency Department is overwhelmed these days. In fact, I went to the Emergency Department Waiting Room the other day and found “standing room only”. It was an amazing scene as a sea of people waited for an opportunity to see a Physician. We have set an Emergency visit record of 420 people in one day recently because some folks are showing up to be assessed for an influenza-like illness or respiratory ailment along with all those people needing other types of acute care. On a “normal” day, our Emergency Team sees about 275 people. Recently, we have seen as many as 396 people. That is a huge spike of activity.

Furthermore, a challenge also arises when people with flu-like symptoms come in to visit the sick and don’t identify they themselves are feeling unwell. In addition, many healthy people come to our site with the expectation that they are going to be given a mask and be allowed to see a patient who is contagious. At times like this, it is in everyone’s best interest that we occasionally impose visitor restrictions. We ask ourselves, what if our resources such as “masks” are depleted and our healthcare workers don’t have protection to do their jobs? It is a serious question we need to answer. If our healthcare workers become ill and are away from work, our options are limited. The complexity of this is not well-understood.

In this report, I also want to congratulate Dr. Gordon Porter on his new role as Vice-President, Medical and Academic Affairs. Along with his many responsibilities, he has done a terrific job of developing our partnership with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. It has huge implications for all our stakeholders. Good things result from this including the fact that our patients and families will have the pleasure of meeting our “physicians-in-training”. Dr. Porter currently also maintains his role as Chief of Staff until our new Chief, Dr. George Derbyshire, takes over responsibilities in the New Year. “Caring Together” alliances apply to everything we do.

Industry leaders tell us that successful partnerships give us a competitive advantage over other healthcare institutions. I mention this because our Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute continues to follow a well-structured plan that will see us take a leading role in acute care, research and academic excellence. It is congruent with our Patient and Family Centred Care strategy. As I visit our healthcare partners in communities in the region, I am reminded how important it is that we build strong relationships with each other. Patients and families have high expectations during their time of need.

The “bottom line” is also an immediate challenge as we implement plans to balance our budget. It is at a time when demands for healthcare services are increasing. Important decisions are being made in this regard. I know that in a year’s time, this will be a key consideration for our incoming President and CEO.

Finally, members of the TBRHSC Board of Directors know that Ron Saddington has been an exceptional leader for us and we are moving ahead with the search for his replacement. There will be high expectations on his replacement.

Thank you for your support.

Ingrid Parkes, Chair
Board of Directors