At the September 28 meeting of the Sunrise Regional Health Authority, it was announced that the Ministry of Health has officially appointed Don Rae as chairperson and Dave Schappert as vice-chairperson of the Sunrise Regional Health Authority.
Rae has been serving as interim chairperson after Lawrence Chomos, the former chairperson, resigned in April, according to the summary of the meeting from the Sunrise Health Region.
In the CEO report, Suann Laurent, president and CEO, highlighted initiatives including further implementation of Purposeful Interaction throughout long-term care facilities; the development of surveys for acute and long-term care clients which will be conducted in October; resuming primary health care clinic visits in Norquay and Invermay; suicide prevention protocols which are currently in development for patients presenting in the emergency department (with the pilot project to occur in Canora and Yorkton); completed implementation of SMART IV pumps in all acute, long-term and EMS care facilities, and the reintroduction of echocardiography services at Yorkton Regional Health Centre.
Patient Safety Week is occurring from October 24 to 28 with a variety of activities planned in the region. The region’s “Speak Up!” campaign will be highlighted, which encourages everyone to speak up if something doesn’t smell, taste, sound, look or feel right.
Seniors Week in Saskatchewan occurred at the end of September, with National Seniors Day on October 1. The Active Aging Collaborative, which is an effort between Sunrise Health Region and the Parkland Valley Sport, Culture and Recreation District, assisted in the co-ordination of several events including CTV and ROCK radio interviews and development of an Active Aging promotional video.
The board used the meeting to approve the purchase of capital equipment and projects totaling $29,282. To comply with the Sunrise Regional Health Authority signing authority purchasing policy, the board approved four regional expenditures above the $100,000 approval threshold.
The board also approved annual physician privileges recommendations as submitted by Dr. Phillip Fourie, the vice-president of medical services and the senior medical health officer.
The board reviewed committee membership on all board, regional and provincial committees with representation from the Sunrise Regional Health Authority. Board committees discussed included the Human Resources Committee represented by Gordon Gendur, Don Rae and Deb Schmidt; the Community Health Advisory Committee (CHAC) represented by Dave Schappert, Glenn Leontowich and Don Rae; and the Quality and Safety Committee represented by Don Rae, Garth Harris and Shirley Wolfe-Keller. Regional committees included the Health Foundation of East Central Saskatchewan represented by Shirley Wolfe-Keller, the Regional Ethics Committee represented by Garth Harris and the Practitioner Liaison Council represented by Don Rae and Dave Schappert. The Provincial Governing Council representative is Don Rae.
Governance process policies to be reviewed were for governing style, board job description, chairperson’s role, board self-evaluation and board education. The board chose to table approval to the November meeting pending review of the processes by the human resources committee. The board also reviewed the balanced scorecard for the first quarter from April to June and the Kaizen improvement summaries on optimization of inventory and product flow, as well as information from the Rapid Process Improvement Workshop focused on Yorkton Regional Health Centre Emergency department and Home Care information flows. Information was received from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, confirming that the Yorkton Regional Health Centre laboratory has received accreditation. The team involved in the accreditation process was offered congratulations, according to the report.
The board received an annual review of the corporate services portfolio presented by Lorelei Stusek, the vice-president of corporate services. The review highlights the accomplishments, challenges and future plans of information management, health information services and patient registration, information technology, finance, materials management, corporate services, building services infrastructure and projects, and operational support services.
The Financial Condition Report, up to and including April 30, shows the Sunrise Health Region in a surplus position with the operating expenditures exceeding the operating revenues by $38,044.
The next meeting of the board will be today (October 26).
