New MHA Board Chair

Newly elected Board Chair at the Middlesex Hospital Alliance

Cheryl Waters, the newly elected Board Chair of the Middlesex Hospital Alliance (MHA) Board of Directors presided over her first meeting of the year on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at the Four Counties Health Services (FCHS) site. In her opening remarks, Cheryl welcomed the new board members, Dawn Butler, Frances Ellett, Jane Zoeger and Dr. Jennifer Parr. She updated the Board on the success of the recent advertising strategy for new board members undertaken in the late spring by the Governance Committee of the Board. "Our advertising strategy to bring in new board members and community representatives on board committees has been very successful, and we are pleased with the outcome," said the Board Chair.

Cheryl went on to report to the Board that she is re-establishing regular meetings with local MPPs to ensure that communication remains open. In answer to a query from the Board, Cheryl Waters clarified that the hospital deals directly with the South West Local Health Integration Network (SW LHIN) in relation to funding, "however I still like to have regular opportunities to talk to our local MPPs about matters of common interest," said Waters.

The Board also heard a report from Laurie McGill, an Occupational Therapist at MHA who is leading the Accreditation process. External surveyors will be on site at both hospitals during the week of October 18, 2010. They will conduct a series of interviews with board, administration, clinical staff, physicians, support staff, volunteers and patients.

In his report to the Board, the CEO discussed the current reviews underway for Laboratory Services and Medical Records. These reviews follow on the heels of previous reviews conducted at the MHA based on the LEAN Management Strategy during the consolidation of the Second and Fourth Floors as well as Diagnostic Imaging and the Emergency Department. "In the next 18 months, we expect that most departments in the hospitals will have undergone an extensive review," CEO Mike Mazza reported to the board members.

The board also received a report from the Chief Operating Officer which showed the number of patients waiting for placement in nursing homes and other facilities. In the Middlesex County Hospitals, in January 2009 the average number of patients waiting for placement in nursing homes in Four Counties and Strathroy Hospitals was 18. By July 2010, that number had dropped to 0. Board members expressed astonishment at the radical improvement in being able to place people in nursing homes more quickly. "Yes, there has been a dramatic improvement", said Maltby, "which is due to a number of factors including the opening of two brand new nursing homes in the Municipality of London this year in March and May." The access to these nursing home beds as well as efforts by the South West Community Care Access Centre (SW CCAC) to place patients quickly has dramatically improved in Southwestern Ontario in the last two years. As a result, the two hospitals in Middlesex no longer have patients waiting long periods of time to be placed in nursing homes and this has freed up beds to be used to look after more seriously ill people.

Connecting with the Future of Care

New MHA Board Chair

Newly elected Board Chair at the Middlesex Hospital Alliance