Northern Health continues to post a small surplus in the latter half of the 2007/2008 fiscal year. At their meeting in Vanderhoof, NH Board directors received a financial update indicating a $3.26 million surplus. This surplus is just over half a per cent of the health region’s annual budget of $558 million.

“We’re projecting to break even at the end of the fiscal year, which is March 31st of 2008,” said Dr. Charles Jago, chair of the NH Board. “While cost pressures are lighter in the first half of the fiscal year, the last half of the year generally sees higher acute care volumes and greater energy usage.”

The Board received an update on the upcoming accreditation of Northern Health through the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation (CCHSA). CCHSA granted NH its first regional accreditation in the summer of 2005. Accreditation is a regular process in quality of care improvement.

The NH Board also received an update on meeting human resource needs in the region. NH had 76 registered nursing vacancies in October, which is at a two year low due to successful recruitment efforts. There are 74 vacancies for paramedical professionals such as pharmacists and physiotherapists. This is somewhat high, particularly for pharmacy and physiotherapy disciplines which have a great deal of private sector competition. NH employs over 7,000 people region wide.

“Attracting health professionals depends on developing strong links with educational institutions to train new staff, aggressively marketing the region to experienced recruits and ensuring we retain people by offering a rewarding work environment. While we have more work to do, our directors are confident that NH is making progress in these areas,” noted Dr. Jago.

NH Board directors were pleased to meet with representatives of the Stuart-Nechako Regional Hospital District, the local government agency that provides capital funding from property taxation to improve health facilities in the Lakes and Omineca districts. The agency has helped to fund a host of improvements such as the two year old Stuart Nechako Manor seniors care home in Vanderhoof, which also received capital funding from the Government of British Columbia.




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Northern Health confirmed to the representatives of the regional hospital district that functional planning is underway for the replacements of Stuart Lake Hospital in Fort St. James and Lakes District Hospital in Burns Lake. Functional planning is an important first step in looking at the current and future health service needs of each community. A community round table with local stakeholders also took place. This involved discussion of health programs in the Lakes/Omineca districts, recruitment efforts and other health issues in the area.

“Our Board believes these meetings with regional hospital districts and our community round tables are important parts of our community engagement. We have approved changes to our policies that will make these sessions an on-going part of future NH Board meetings,” added Dr. Jago.

The Board received an update on the costs associated with the June 7th power outage at Prince George Regional Hospital. The mechanical fault in the hospital’s electrical system has cost an estimated $286,000 in expenses and wages. NH has sought an insurance claim for the costs. The initial assessment into the cause of the failure was inconclusive. NH is awaiting an engineering report which may provide more information on the problem. Plant experts at PGRH continue to test the components every three weeks. The switching system has run normally since the repairs.

And finally, CEO Cathy Ulrich –who was a public health nurse earlier in her career- provided members of the NH Board with their annual influenza vaccination. Northern residents who want to find out more about influenza immunizations can call a local public health unit or speak with a family doctor.

The next NH Board meeting will take place in Prince George in January.