The Board of Directors for Grey Bruce Health Services held their Annual General meeting on July 22 and announced the new slate of Board Officers.
Paul Sinclair, who has been a Board member for the past three years, is now Chair of the Board, taking over from Brenda Kearney, who served as Chair for a two year term. Jo Flewwelling will assume the role of Vice Chair. Dr. George Saab, a GBHS radiologist, has been appointed as the Medical Staff President (Urban) and joins his colleague, family physician Dr. Meghan Grigg, who took on the role of Medical Staff President (Rural), earlier this year. Dr. Saab took over his role from GBHS surgeon Dr. Neil Lamont.
“We have an excellent roster of Board Officers with a broad range of skills and experience in healthcare, governance and finance,” said Gary Sims, President and CEO of GBHS. “I look forward to working with our Board to grow the Corporation’s presence as a regional provider of quality health care.”
The Board was reminded that in addition to the focus and work that has been spent on COVID-19 in the past several months, GBHS had many achievements to celebrate from the past fiscal year (ended March 31, 2020). Highlights of the organization’s successes were presented to the Board at the AGM, and included the following:
GBHS RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE IN SURGERY PROGRAM
GBHS is one of 88 hospitals worldwide to be recognized by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) for achieving quality outcomes for surgery patients. The ACS awarded GBHS ‘meritorious status,’ a designation achieved by only a small number of Canadian hospitals.
YEAR ENDS WITH BALANCED FINANCES, MORE STABILITY AHEAD
GBHS ended the fiscal year in a balanced financial position, with a surplus of $1.7 million (just under 1% of the overall budget).
GBHS received a funding increase of $8,492,000 for the current fiscal year from the Ministry of Health in June. The majority of these funds, ($6.2M) were provided last year as one-time funds, and have now been added to the Corporation’s annual base budget.
The remaining $2.3M represents a funding top up of about 1% of our base budget.
NEW MRI ARRIVING SOON
The Five Foundations that support GBHS met their goal of raising $4.7 M for a new MRI. The equipment will arrive in August, and will be in operation by September 2020.
NEW MARKDALE HOSPITAL CLOSER TO REALITY
GBHS is awaiting approval from the Ministry of Health on its Stage 4.1 submission, and once approved, documents will be prepared to issue a call for tenders to construct a new hospital in Markdale. GBHS remains optimistic that site preparations will begin by the end of this year.
GBHS INVESTS IN FUTURE STAFFING NEEDS
Approximately 45% of GBHS nursing staff will be eligible for retirement within the next five years. To ensure sustainable staffing across our six hospitals, GBHS is focusing on supporting current staff to develop specialized skills and move into difficult-to-fill positions.
The program has had positive results, with a current internal promotion rate of 65%. GBHS is also supporting RPNs to work towards their BScN and Registered Nurse license.
10 NEW PHYSICIANS JOINED GBHS IN THE PAST YEAR
Ten new physicians have stated practicing at GBHS hospitals since April 2019. These include six family physicians and four specialists (Cardiology, Ophthalmology, Critical Care, Psychiatry).
All GBHS Emergency Departments are fully staffed leading into this summer after a challenging summer in 2019.
source: media release, GBHS
