June, 2008

Message from: Ron Nelson, Chair, Board of Directors, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre

This is my last note to you as Chair of the Board of Directors of Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. My term as Chair is complete. As I recount the eight years of service on the Board, it has been an honour to have served you in this capacity.

Through all of the change, memories from the Port Arthur and McKellar sites are still “top of mind”. But, I have to admit how glad I am that we decided to build the new Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. Recently, the Accreditation Canada Surveyors told us how impressed they were with our working environment. They constantly compared us to other hospitals and applauded our functional ability to serve patients. For example, our Infection Control strategies were mentioned as one of our great strengths because we have the ability to isolate patients suffering from a contaminable disease to the benefit of all other patients. That’s good planning.

Accreditation is always a lot of work. Congratulations everyone; you made us all proud. Interestingly, we are developing a legacy of great healthcare that others are emulating. Our good decisions are seen as “best-practice” so we are having an impact on patient care far beyond our region. As well, the partnership agreements with Philips Corporation, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Lakehead University, Confederation College, and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, to name a few, ensure that our future holds great promise. We are training our own healthcare workers. It feels good to be able to do so.

It is no secret that we have significant budgetary challenges. However, once again, I am happy to report that we begin another year without a deficit. This can only happen because everyone is working effectively to enable us achieve our goals. We have done it together. It is a “team-building” concept that positions us as a leader in acute healthcare. That is why we take every opportunity to join with “private sector” partners and the Federal, Provincial, and Municipal levels of government to deliver great healthcare in a fiscally responsible way.

As you will have noticed, TBRHSC’s Strategic Plan 2010 is a robust plan. We are successfully implementing all our initiatives including teaching and research. It is interesting to see how quickly they have become cornerstones here. We are proud to be recognized as leaders in innovative care.

Finally, the Annual Meeting of the Health Sciences Centre membership will be held in a few days. Even though my term as Chair is complete, I have decided to let my name stand for another term as a Director.

As always, thank you for your continued support.

Ron Nelson, Chair
Board of Directors