Summary NH Board meeting update: small surplus recorded, revised Aboriginal health plan approved, round table held with community leaders, new Board members welcomed.

Northern Health is operating with a small surplus early in the 2007-2008 fiscal year. At their meeting in Prince Rupert, NH Board members received a financial report showing an $857,000 surplus for the first two months of the fiscal year. This surplus is just over a tenth of a per cent of the health region’s annual operating budget of $558 million for the 2007-2008 year.

“The health region is experiencing lower costs due to some vacancies in community programs, although there are higher acute care costs due to increased patient volume and activity,” said Jeff Burghardt, chair of the Northern Health Board. “Our Board and staff have worked very hard to provide services within our financial means over the years, and we continue to do so.”

The NH Board also approved an Aboriginal health plan to 2010. The plan is based on consultations with Aboriginal communities across Northern BC held last fall. The plan focuses on five key areas:

Improving engagement with Aboriginal communities through a strengthened Aboriginal health improvement committee structure;
Enhancing training among NH staff to help understand the health and well-being needs of Aboriginal people;
Better access to primary care along with stronger management of chronic diseases such as diabetes;
Initiatives to include more Aboriginal students in education programs for health professions; and
On-going monitoring and evaluation of the plan and its progress.

The Board followed through with a commitment at its last meeting to better engage communities by conducting a round-table with Northwest stakeholders. Participants in the round-table included local governments, provincial elected officials, health advocates, funding partners and others.

“We discussed a number of topics, including the Acropolis Manor replacement, the location of any potential new hospital at the Village of Queen Charlotte, and sustaining health services in Northwest committees. I believe this new part of our meeting is constructive, and Board members look forward to conducting similar round tables at future meetings to be held across the region,” said Mr. Burghardt.

The NH Board received updates on several incidents and matters at the meeting, including:

The power outage at Prince George Regional Hospital in early June: staff outlined the direct impacts of the incident, and steps that health professionals took to ensure patient care continued. The cause of the power outage remains under investigation. Staff debriefings are also taking place to determine potential areas of improvement in responding to similar situations in the future;
A recent incident at the North Peace Care Centre in Fort St. John, in which one resident assaulted another elderly resident in the facility’s Special Care Unit. The incident is under review. Staff members are receiving additional training to deal with potential violence among residents. While the facility had undergone renovations in recent years to accommodate geriatric mental health clients, NH has also engaged an architect to consider functional changes to protect the well-being of all of the facility’s residents;
The cleaning and sterilization of laparoscopic surgery equipment at Mills Memorial Hospital: in early June, nursing staff at the hospital in Terrace discovered that although a surgical instrument had been cleaned and sterilized, it had not been fully taken apart prior to cleaning and sterilization. Staff have corrected the problem, and contacted patients to inform them of the situation although the risk to patients is very low. The Board received an update about efforts to ensure regional standards are in place to deal with sterilization procedures; and
Sustainable maternity services in Prince Rupert; there have been ongoing issues recruiting maternity nurses to Prince Rupert Regional Hospital. Periodic shortages of maternity nurses have led to some new mothers having to deliver their babies outside of the community. NH has successfully recruited new maternity nurses to PRRH, and is recruiting additional nursing staff to medical/surgical nursing positions. NH administration is working with physicians and nursing staff to ensure maternity services remain available for Prince Rupert residents on an on-going basis.

Following formal appointments by the Government of British Columbia, the NH Board welcomed two new members to its meeting in Prince Rupert:

Dale Bumstead is the director of the North/Central Region for the Insurance Corporation of BC. Previously, he was the vice-president of broker relations and sales and the vice president of the Interior Region for ICBC. Mr. Bumstead is a director for the Lakeview Credit Union and is a former city councillor for the City of Dawson Creek; and
Cameron McIntyre is the chief financial officer at Ridley Terminals Inc. Previously, he held the positions of chief accountant and manager of finance and administration at Ridley Terminals Inc. He is also the company's corporate secretary. Within his community, he is a bookkeeper and director at Prince Rupert Fellowship Baptist Nursery School and is a former assistant coach for Prince Rupert Minor Hockey. Mr. McIntyre has his Bachelor of Science in Engineering and Master in Business Administration from the University of Alberta and is a Chartered Accountant.

The appointments for Mr. Bumstead and Mr. McIntyre are effective until March of 2010.

The Board also said farewell to Fred Fominoff, a member of the NH Board for the past two years. Mr. Fominoff will be leaving the board as he has relocated outside of the region.

The next NH Board meeting will take place in September in Fort St. John. The November 2007 meeting will take place in Vanderhoof.