CEO report
The Manitoulin Health Centre (MHC) September board meeting started with MHC CEO Derek Graham presenting his report.
Mr. Graham highlighted that the Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) has announced that they will hire and fund a nurse practitioner position, to be employed by them, in a home care capacity focusing on palliative care. He noted the possible benefits and challenges associated with the new concept and that MHC will be examining it.
His report also spoke about accreditation work that has been developing across MHC in preparation for June 2018’s accreditation visit.
“Through the leadership of the director of clinical innovation and partnerships, as the delegated lead for the file, a comprehensive assessment has been performed to help guide the managers through the highest priority safety and quality related standards,” he informed the board.
Mr. Graham spoke to the board about how many of the province’s hospitals experienced a summer surge in patient volumes, particularly in higher growth communities.
“This is troublesome, and may indicate that the capacity within the system is not aligned to growing access needs,” he said. “Typically hospitals experience volume surges in the winter months and so to see this pattern over the summer is very unusual. As a result, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) has ramped up messaging publically around the need for continuing to infuse revenue to hospitals, including a call for in-year base increases.”
“There were delays over the summer in renovating the palliative hospice rooms at both sites,” explained Mr. Graham. “The delays have resulted in a push back of the go-live projected date to end of October. The efforts have now been revitalized and refocused.”
As well, the report noted that former MHC employee Petra Wall has been acclaimed as the newest NE-LHIN board member.
Nursing report
MHC Interim Chief Nursing Officer Laurie Landry introduced herself to the board and reviewed her September report.
She discussed how the installation of the new cardiac telemetry equipment was completed over the summer and that the units are now functioning, serving patient needs at both sites.
“The defibrillators were delayed due to a supply issue and are being implemented next week,” she said.
Ms. Landry said that a new mental health community resource referral form has been implemented, “to ensure our mental health clients are being referred to an appropriate community agency upon discharge from care at MHC.”
“We worked with our home care partners to make revisions to the home care referral form to allow for more detailed information to be provided and make it easier to identify which agency it should be sent to,” she added. “A focus over the summer months on improving pharmacy safe practices in relation to MHC’s latest on-site pharmacy accreditation visit has resulted in a number of key process changes being implemented.”
Ms. Landry said that the pharmacy area at the Little Current site has moved into a newly renovated area and a new packaging instrument has been installed and is operational.
“A part-time nurse educator has been hired for MHC to help impart critical skills training for nurses,” Ms. Landry explained to the board. “A former nurse manager was selected, Vicky Joncas, to fulfill the role. The focus will be on training related to critical processes to help improve staff knowledge and comfort in the performance of these identified tasks.”
Financial and corporate support services
“After five months of operation in our 2017-2018 fiscal year, MHC has a surplus from hospital operations of $163,000 with an overall surplus, including other revenues and expenses of approximately $165,000,” said MHC VP of Corporate Support Services and CFO Lynn Foster. “MHC’s investment portfolio has been managed by Beutel Goodman since January 2006. Its assets under management, at book value, equals $5,202,877 with a fair market value of $5,904,319. The asset mix is currently 51 percent fixed income and 49 percent equity, which is consistent with the board established investment policy.”
She noted that the capital budgeting process for 2017-2018 will soon be complete. Once completed, the final approved list will come forward to the board.
“Subsequent to the CEO’s email shared with the board in June, MHC has hired its own two full-time technology solution specialists,” Ms. Foster explained. “An offsite planning session was held in early September which led to MHC’s IT operations plan. This plan has been shared with our three FHT partners and site visits to each FHT have also been conducted.”
Chief of Staff report
MHC Chief of Staff Dr. Stephen Cooper spoke of Dr. Anne McDonald, who joined the Little Current Medical Associates and has started her practice.
“She will be on maternity leave early in 2018,” he said. “The Little Current group is excited to have her join the practice. She is planning on replacing Dr. Barss at the Centennial Manor so he can focus on OBS.”
Dr. Cooper said the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) Comprehensive Clinical Clerk (CCC) students started their eight-month rotation at the beginning of September. He explained that they started in Gore Bay and will then move to Mindemoya and finish in Little Current.
“The local education group had its first teaching session, primarily focused on curriculum changes for NOSM students doing their first clinical rural rotations (four week sessions called 108 and 110),” explained Dr. Cooper. “Dr. Kilbertus was active in helping improve the curriculum for the second year students.”
Medical advisory committee
The board carried four motions, recommended by the medical advisory committee. The motions included: granting active privileges to Dr. Anne McDonald; courtesy privileges to Dr. David Cowan; granting locum privileges to Dr. Annelise Miller, Dr. Ji Zhou and Dr. Neil Dattani; and granting courtesy privileges to Dr. Dinkar Shukla.
Board meeting dates
The MHC board approved the following meeting dates: November 23 in Little Current; January 25 in Mindemoya; March 22 in Little Current; May 24 in Mindemoya; and June 28 in Little Current.
