Report from Susan Fraser Chair, Board of Directors March, 2014

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) is celebrating its 10th anniversary. It is hard to believe that patients and families were first welcomed to our beautiful facility a decade ago. Our facility continues to receive accolades, including recent ranking as #6 on a list of the World’s most architecturally impressive hospitals

Since opening in 2004, TBRHSC has expanded in its size, as well as its programs and services. The successes of the past ten years and those that are certain to come could not be achieved alone. Every day, patients and families benefit from the combined efforts of our community, including dedicated employees, healthcare providers, volunteers, donors and partners. For the role you had in building excellent healthcare in Northwestern Ontario, I thank you.

Our past achievements shaped the exciting future that lies before us, particularly as we continue our journey to become an academic health sciences centre (AHSC), or “teaching hospital”. Just as a tricycle needs all three wheels functioning in unison to move forward, an AHSC advances the quality of care when clinical care, teaching and research seamlessly work together.

Our transition requires collaboration. That was the theme of a recent retreat that brought together the boards of the TBRHSC, the Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute (TBRRI), and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation

We are energized and enlightened by what we learned together, and the opportunities that lie before us. Key learnings from the retreat will guide our journey. They include:

• The key to success is to look at where we are now, identify the barriers to where we’re going, and confront them.
• A framework to guide corporate strategy and capacity to effect changes is paramount.
• Collaborations are essential to success.
• We can share a vision that is implemented separately by the three organizations.

As an academic health sciences centre, we are in a better position to face challenges, such as overcapacity. Patients continue to receive world-class clinical care from interprofessional teams of dedicated healthcare professionals.

I am grateful that, for the past ten years and into the years to come, so many individuals and organizations continue to make patient care Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre their priority. We are healthy together.

Respectfully,

Susan Fraser

TBRHSC Board Chair