Message from President & CEO Debbie Sevenpifer

Debbie Sevenpifer,
President and Chief Executive Officer

Welcome to the 4th edition of Niagara Health Now. I hope you are enjoying our new publication. Please ensure that you provide us feedback online so that we can continue to improve this publication and make it as reader friendly and meaningful as possible.

Many communications activities were undertaken to prepare for the July 6 conversion of the 24/7 Emergency Room (ER) at the Port Colborne Site to a 24/7 Urgent Care Centre (UCC). These activities included community education sessions in Wainfleet and Port Colborne, full-page ads in Sun Media newspapers, a new billboard on the front lawn of the site as well as brochures delivered to households through Sun Media publications explaining the difference between an ER and an UCC.

I would like to especially thank the leadership and staff of the Emergency program as well as the staff of the Communications department, many of whom were actively involved in the planning for the conversion. I would like to provide special acknowledgement to Marcia Ladouceur, Clinical Manager, Emergency Services, for the Welland and Port Colborne sites, who led the conversion in Port Colborne and will lead the conversion at Douglas Memorial Site in Fort Erie. Marcia continues to provide education to the communities and to staff on the changes, and she has gone above and beyond to ensure a smooth conversion in Port Colborne. We acknowledge that there are still concerns within the communities, and we will continue with our communication efforts to alleviate those concerns.

Read on in this publication to learn more about the exciting progress with our fundraising efforts in the It’s Our Time Campaign. This largest ever healthcare fundraising initiative in Niagara will benefit our entire system and the residents of Niagara by bringing new regional services to Niagara and upgrading equipment and infrastructure at our sites.

It is not well understood that hospitals do not receive funding to replace medical equipment. Hospitals are expected to balance their budgets and/or generate a surplus with which to purchase equipment. This is a constant struggle for most hospitals and has been a significant challenge for the NHS since amalgamation, due to inherited debt that has crippled us from a cash perspective.

For the last number of years, we have relied solely upon our foundations and auxiliaries to fundraise for needed medical equipment. On an annual basis, the listing of equipment needs across our sites well exceeds the fundraising efforts of our foundations and auxiliaries. We need everyone in Niagara to become involved in this campaign and annual fundraising efforts to improve our ability to replace medical equipment on a timely basis. Our patients and staff require access to modern medical equipment for quality patient care. Hopefully you will be inspired by the volunteers and their story (please see the first page of this issue of Niagara Health Now) and get involved in our fundraising efforts that will make a difference in healthcare for generations to come!

Summer is upon us, and I hope that each and every one of you has time for rest and relaxation with family and friends.