The regular monthly meeting of the Sunrise Health Region Board was held last Wednesday after a two-month summer hiatus.
President and CEO Suann Laurent presented an extensive report to the Board as part of the package also circulated to attending media. Some of the highlights of the Report included:
• Accreditation – ongoing meetings and presentations have occurred to assist Quality Improvements teams to be prepared for our survey November 1 – 6, 2015. We will be reviewing the governing functioning team survey results at the October Board meeting and we will also have a presentation at the October meeting to refresh all board members on the process, schedule and expectations.
• Sunrise Health Region initiatives continue to progress. Methadone continues to improve’ however, we did have one methadone related death attached to the program. This has been deemed a critical incident by the Ministry. We are struggling with what to do with weekend carries when pharmacies are closed. Gary Shepherd and his team are meeting with the community pharmacies and the RCMP to see what improvements can be made. Public Health Nurses have begun providing HIV and Hepatitis C counseling in Kamsack with clients of the methadone clinic. Counseling involves the results of testing, treatment options, lifestyle risks and prevention of spread.
• Dr. Chhetri has accepted the position of Medical Health Officer. He is relocating from Toronto but has links to Saskatchewan. He completed his Masters of Public Health through the University of Saskatchewan. He is just going through the licensing process with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan (CPSS). One of the requirements is that he will need supervision until signed off by the college. Dr. Nsungu has agreed to supervise.
• Sunrise Regional Laundry production was shut down on June 19, 2015 and soiled linen is being sent to KBro in Edmonton until the official opening of the new Regina facility on September 14. The decision to shut down the facility earlier was due to the safety risks identified with the nine contraventions that were served to Sunrise in May. The machines have all been decommissioned and disassembly of the various machinery has begun.
• The previous Women’s Wellness Clinic in Yorkton is being renovated to accommodate Human Resources. Effective October 31, Human Resources will relocate from the Circlebrook Offices. This is a realized savings of $50,000.
• Two Home Care fleet vehicles are displaying DR Auto advertising on them. All fleet vehicles are identified with the Sunrise Health Region logo and the assigned vehicle number. Work continues with securing more vendors to advertise on our vehicles.
• Projects in the health region include: Theodore Health Centre phone system upgrade completed. New generator and transfer switch installed in Langenburg by the Sunrise Project Crew. The Ituna Pioneer Health Care Centre roof project was placed on Sask Tenders. The successful bid was from Southland Roofing; project to start in September. St. Anthony’s Hospital air conditioning chiller system failed and was replaced in August; replacement cost was $81,000. The Centennial Special Care Home (Esterhazy) kitchen renovations were to begin September 14. Upon completion, these renovations will meet the outstanding Public Health Inspector Report.
• Nursing Orientation – The Clinical Instructors and Karen Semchuk have drafted a two day Nursing Orientation, which will be trialed starting in September 2015. This decision was based on the three day Nursing orientation Current State Map and the New Two Day Nursing Orientation Future State Map. Information formerly covered in the three day orientation, but not in the two day orientation will be available online (via Mosby and Sunrise Staff Intranet), including videos, which are being made in consultation with Communications (Sharon Tropin). This way staff can review the information in bits and pieces as they have time on the unit. The online material will include quizzes to be completed by the staff member to ensure adequate knowledge of the material. If the Two Day Nursing Orientation is a success this will result in significant cost savings for the Region.
• Dr. Lombard is resigning and moving his practice to New Zealand. We are in the process of recruiting another psychiatrist. Dr. Adefolarin will be the new Chief Psychiatrist.
• Canora Collaborative Emergency Centre (CEC) budget issues - $46,000 received from foundation, $106,000 from the Town of Canora, $24,000 in deferred to cover costs, and still we are optimistic that the remainder of $50,000 comes in from RMs, towns, and communities. Project is on track to move in October and the grand opening in November 2015.
• Foam Lake Health Centre had has equipment issues. The X-ray processor went down in May and after much delay in receiving a free unit from Carrot River, they were finally up and running by mid-August. This processor has not proven to meet the needs as chemical is a huge challenge to obtain. Another processor that will use the Kodak chemicals became available in Regina, so it was shipped to Foam Lake at the end of August for the cost of shipping. This unit will be installed and will serve the department much better.
