January, 2010

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

TBRHSC is doing well! Our growing list of accomplishments makes us the envy of many other healthcare organizations. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to thank all of our healthcare providers, who unselfishly serve patients and families. You are leaving a great legacy of care.

Recently, we received word that we are once again a leader in mortality indicators, meaning we do a better job at keeping people alive than our peers. That is impressive. My sense is that most people don?t appreciate the level of difficulty we work in. I even heard one report during the H1N1 event where a healthcare official suggested our Emergency Department numbers were wrong because we reported treating over 415 people in one day. The sense was, “no one can do that”. We restated our numbers for that day showing that we had served more than 415. We lead the province in great Emergency Care for our patients.

In addition, we receive awards on a regular basis for our innovative high standards of care such as in Pathology, and Telemedicine – Cardiac and Stroke rehabilitative care. As Jim Collins mentioned in his book, “Good to Great”, it takes momentum to collectively move forward. We have that momentum. Our figurative “flywheel” encourages us to aspire to higher goals.

When the Board of Directors (Governors) endorsed the acronym TORQ in 2006, we believed that within four years, we could become a healthcare leader focusing on four key components: Teaching and Research, Organizational Transformation, integrating Regional services, and providing Quality and Safety Patient Care (TORQ). Our Values drove our Vision to relentlessly pursue greatness. People were held accountable for providing improvements within established time-frames. We made TORQ a living reality. We became recognized for our care regionally, provincially, nationally, and internationally. I know that our healthcare leaders travel the world sharing “best practice” stories of innovation that enhance patient care. So, as we recruit leading research scientists from around the world to our city, I am confident that the Strategic Plan of 2006-2010 will soon be refreshed providing a “bench to bedside” care plan that will take us well into the future.

I continue to be impressed with Patient and Family Centred Care (PFCC). It is an example of how quickly change can envelope an organization leading to a positive difference in everything we do. As an example, I think of the introduction of the patient room White Board. The 'White Board' is designed to alert all stakeholders about healthcare activities regarding the patient. Healthcare team member names are listed as well as daily calendar lists of scheduled tests, nutrition preferences, and other relevant information. The White Board even provides discharge plans indicating what has to be accomplished to enable a patient to go home. PFCC will continue to be top-of-mind in the coming year.

One last note – the search for our new President and CEO has advanced to the national and international levels as per our plan. As you might expect, leading TBRHSC into the future is going to take a special individual. Our clinical agenda is extraordinary, in itself. However, add the Research and Academic components, and we are destined for greatness. We are not surprised by our progress. We decided to become a great academic and research healthcare facility recognized internationally for excellence in innovative Patient and Family Centred Care. It takes a lot of dedicated people to do what we are doing.

We are 'Caring Together'. What a great way to start the New Year thinking about these things!

Thank you for your support.

Ingrid Parkes, Chair
Board of Directors