Report from Nadine Doucette
Chair, Board of Directors, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre
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March 21, 2018
Quality health care translates to better health outcomes and experiences for every patient. Our hospital’s commitment to quality includes several priority initiatives, identified with input from Patient and Family Advisors, physicians, leaders and staff. Our Board of Directors embraces its role in advancing and monitoring quality. That was the focus of a Board Retreat held on February 28. We were fortunate to be joined by Dr. Ross Baker, renowned author, professor and researcher in the area of Quality and Patient Safety. Dr. Baker shared his expertise in current trends in health care quality, and governance related to improving quality and patient safety. He identified that the role hospital Boards have in quality includes the areas of fiduciary, generative and strategic.
Our Board will move forward by identifying approaches to measuring the quality of care and supporting a culture of quality and patient safety within the Hospital. Quality and safety are important priorities. Evidence demonstrates that organizations where the Board focuses 20% of their time on quality achieve results in quality care. We are committed to working together with our physician partners and our physician leaders. We understand there are multiple local and system priorities and it is difficult to balance them all. We have strong Leadership, a skilled Board, committed staff, and an Understanding of what it takes to be an effective board. This positions us for further success going forward.
Our effectiveness as a Board depends on obtaining the right mix of skills and experience. Being able to draw upon a diverse set of competencies and knowledge is essential to successfully address the complex issues faced by our Hospital. Some members' terms are expiring soon, and the interest of those members in continuing in their roles will be explored as appropriate. We are preparing for the recruitment of new volunteer Board members with the appropriate skills to replace those who cannot continue.
We are also preparing to participate in mock accreditation interviews to be held on May 14. The participation of as many Board members as possible will demonstrate to the accreditors the commitment of the Board to the process, and to the organization.
Hospital accreditation is a process that assesses a hospital’s performance against a set of standards. We look forward to working on the process with Accreditation Canada, the organization dedicated to working with patients, providers and policy makers to improve the quality of health for all.