Health Sciences North shared some good news during its Annual General Meeting.
President and CEO Dominic Giroux says Northern Ontario’s largest hospital performed at or better than the Ontario average on 13 of 19 key indicators tracked by the Canadian Institute of Health Information.
Chief of Staff, Dr. John Fenton says 11 new family physicians, and 25 specialists were recruited over the last year who will provide services to people across the northeast.
Board Treasurer Stéphan Plante reported a surplus from hospital operations of $1.9 million adding the hospital’s net assets are the strongest they have been since 1999.
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The hospital says In 2021-2022, HSN’s average wait times in the Emergency Department were at or better than the Ontario average.
Fifty-nine percent of surgeries at HSN are performed within provincial target wait times, compared to 48% provincially. HSN performs at 91% of pre-pandemic surgical activity compared to 85% in Ontario and 75% in other Northern hospitals.
Giroux also highlighted that since 2018, HSN secured $36.7 in provincial capital funding, as well as operating funding for 198 additional temporary hospital beds in Sudbury, which constitutes an annual investment of $38 million.
Plante adds the hospital has consistently had surpluses in previous years including $1.8 million in 2018-2019, $0.3 million in 2019-2020 and $2.9 million in 2020-2021. Plante observed that HSN’s net assets are the strongest they have been since 1999.
“We want to acknowledge the strong collaboration and responsiveness of Ontario Health and the Ministry of Health in supporting HSN in these exceptional times,” said Plante. “This puts us in a good position moving forward.”
Board Chair Daniel Giroux acknowledged the critical role of the Health Sciences North Foundation, the Health Sciences North Volunteer Association, the NEO Kids Foundation and the Northern Cancer Foundation and their respective board members, staff and donors.
“Not only do these teams raise essential funds for patient care, education and life-changing research, they are exceptional ambassadors of HSN,” said Giroux. “Thanks to their efforts, HSN acquired a second MRI, upgraded its previous MRI, and completed associated renovations with no debt. In total, they funded over $6 million in critical equipment and invested in research related to cancer solutions, cardiovascular health, healthy aging and other emerging areas, and earmarked over $9 million for capital redevelopment.”
The AGM heard that Daniel Giroux and Dr. Catherine Cervin would continue to serve as Board Chair and Vice Chair in the coming year. Stéphan Plante was re-elected as Treasurer and is Chair-Elect for 2023-2024. The Board welcomes five new members: Grace Alcaide Janicas, Chantal Makela, Dr. Sanjiv Mathur, Kati McCartney and Julie Trpkovski. Other returning directors are Helen Bobiwash, Angèle Dmytruk, Lynne Dupuis, Dr. John Fenton, Roger Gauthier, Dominic Giroux, Francesca Grosso, Rosella Kinoshameg, Tom Laughren, Dr. Stephen Morris and Lyse-Anne Papineau.
