Board Chair Message - October 11, 2006

One of my goals this year is to travel to all the regional hospitals that we serve. In total, there are fourteen sites. On my recent trip to Fort Frances, with TBRHSC Director, Ingrid Parkes, from Kenora, I met with Board and Administration members of the Riverside Healthcare Facilities in Fort Frances which serves the Southwestern Region of Northwestern Ontario.

As with every small community, the healthcare workers in Fort Frances are seeking ways to provide care while recognizing a shortage of resources. Even so, congratulations are in order because the people of Fort Frances and region are raising funds for a new CT Scan. What it means to us is significant because patients from there can be confident that we will work cooperatively to provide specialist care, as required. It is a good example of autonomy and collaboration. Already, we are diligent at assisting our regional partners with Cardiac, Stroke, Renal, Psychiatric, Radiology, Surgical, Obstetrical, Neurosurgical, Orthopaedic, and Hospitalist services, to name a few. The folks in Fort Frances mentioned to me that they are grateful for the high level of service that we are providing to them. We know that it is not easy for patients and families to leave their home community to travel to Thunder Bay to receive assessment and treatment. However, the more we cooperatively use our resources, including telehealth, the better we will be meeting the healthcare needs of the citizens of Northwestern Ontario.

On another note, when the Philips Corporation came to Thunder Bay to become a partner with us in our Molecular Medicine Research Centre, it became clear that we have something special going on here. Not only did Philips say that we are on the leading edge of excellence, but so did the folks from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. Both say that we are headed for exceptional outcomes. However, that event alone was not the end of it. We had another exciting chapter written in our saga a few days later when the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (OHI) announced it would become our mentor site. Our agreement with OHI notified the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care that our goals regarding stand-alone Angioplasty Cardiac Services for the people of our area were attainable. The agreement meant that Canada’s leading cardiac service deliverer, Ottawa Heart Institute, saw us as a valuable care and research partner.

We have recently been able to notify all of our healthcare constituencies that we are going to be measured as an Academic Teaching and Research Health Sciences Centre beyond our traditional Community Hospital status. We are going to lead healthcare and not just shadow best practice organizations.

Finally, the kudos are rolling in for our Hospitalists. These dedicated physicians are doing a great job at looking after the many patients who are admitted to TBRHSC, but who do not have a Family Physician follow them through their treatment plan. As everyone knows, we have been diligently seeking a way to care for in-patients and I want to thank Doctor Crystal Cannon and her team for doing such a great job. From the reports that I hear about, I know their role is difficult. They make us all proud. Thank you.

I value your continued support.

Ron Nelson, Chair
Board of Directors

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