Message from President & CEO Debbie Sevenpifer

Debbie Sevenpifer,
President and Chief Executive Officer

It’s that time of year again – time for our hospital’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) and the publication of the Niagara Health System’s Annual Report. Our Annual Report provides an overview of activities, achievements and challenges of the past fiscal year. You will find our 2008-2009 Annual Report on pages nine though 16 in this issue, and I encourage all to read and learn more about our performance over the past year and what’s ahead for Niagara Health.

An important order of business at the AGM each year is the confirmation by the Board of Trustees of the members who will serve for the upcoming year on the Board.

As key decision makers for our hospital, the people who serve on our Board are skilled individuals with backgrounds in healthcare, business, finance, law, engineering and a number of other professions. Our Board members reside across the region and are first and foremost committed to making decisions that are in the best interests of patient care, the hospital and the community of Niagara as a whole.

Hospital Boards play a vital role by providing the leadership necessary to ensure hospitals offer the best patient care possible while functioning efficiently, effectively and economically. Board members are unpaid volunteers who can serve on the board for a maximum of three three-year terms. All of our Board members are listed on our website, with their credentials and backgrounds. Our meetings are open to the public, and minutes are posted on the NHS website. The Board Q & A is a new initiative in Niagara Health Now to give you more insight into the people who serve on our Board.

The NHS Board uses a broad-based recruitment process to find potential new members to fill vacancies on the Board as well as on our three Community Standing Committees for Fort Erie, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Port Colborne. Community members are invited to send a letter of application along with a detailed resume which goes to the Recruitment Committee of the Board. This year we received more than 40 applications from Niagara residents interested in filling four openings on the Board as well as a number of applications for openings on the Standing Committees.

I’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge four long-service Board members who each completed their service with the Board at the NHS AGM on June 23. They are Past Board Chair Paul Leon, Pat Balasiuk, Doug Frazer and Tony Pylypuk. Paul, Pat, Doug and Tony have each served on the NHS Board since the formation of the hospital system in 2000 and prior to that served for many years on boards of the NHS founding hospitals. We sincerely appreciate their guidance and service over the years.

As we wish our outgoing Board members well in their future endeavours, we are also welcoming four new members to the Board. Look for the story about these new Board and Standing Committee members in the next issue of Niagara Health Now.

I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge the efforts that have been underway and are continuing to confirm the Hospital Improvement Plan (HIP) implementation details for our Douglas Memorial and Port Colborne sites.

A number of important discussions have taken place and are continuing with local physicians and community leaders in both Fort Erie and Port Colborne as well as with our healthcare partners including Niagara Emergency Medical Services (NEMS), our Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Through dialogue at a number of tables and through creative solutions, we have been able to address a number of concerns that we have heard from our Southern lakeshore communities.

I look forward to sharing more information with you on the small site visions in the next issue of Niagara Health Now.