There were no specific items or problems singled out for Sun Country Health Region with this year’s provincial audit, but the health region’s vice-president of finance, suggested there are still things that can be taken from the report that will improve local operations.
John Knoch, vice-president of finance and corporate services for Sun Country, said there were at least three recommendations delivered to other health regions, that Sun Country could take into consideration to improve efficiencies.
The audit did note, though, that Sun Country needs to complete a new affiliation agreement with Borderline Housing in Carnduff.
The two-month financial statement was also received by the board of directors who were meeting in the region’s head office at Tatagwa View in Weyburn on June 24. This document noted that spending and revenue items were coming in close to schedule so a modest surplus was still on the books, even with expenses being a little over budget due to some increases in staffing hours. Advertising and promotion items were also exceeding allocations, but no major additional expenses were expected on that front to the end of the fiscal year. Board chairwoman Marilyn Charlton said board members and administrators are taking advantage of having more conference calls and spending less time travelling and conducting on-site meetings, which will cut down the expenses on that file. In fact, she noted, the June 5 provincial leadership meeting was conducted in that manner as was the June 23 governance committee meeting.
The motion to approve the draft of the new budget was passed with the expectation that the provincial government and Ministry of Health will approve the annual report by the end of July.
In other board business, it was noted that an Estevan-based symposium on quality care and management that was held in Estevan was a major success with 120 registered participants and excellent presentations.
On the primary care front, the region’s CEO Marga Cugnet reported that two Weyburn-based physicians have served notice they will not be renewing their contracts at the Weyburn Primary Health Centre, but one replacement doctor has been found and has signed a contract with a second doctor coming aboard by year end.
There was also a brief discussion regarding provision of interpretation service to assist those who don’t have English as their first language and may have difficulty totally comprehending certain medical terms or diagnosis.
Cugnet reported on progress being made on the consultation process connected with the upcoming building of a new general hospital in Weyburn. She said consultants have been contracted and recommendations from staff and others are now coming in.
Sun Country was awarded $500,000 in this spring’s provincial budget to pursue the first steps in the new hospital project.
Chris McKee from the region’s Kaizen promotion office, reported on lean management sessions that have been carried out in the region over the past few months. He said information flow has improved and a recent day long meeting was conducted in an efficient half-day time frame. He added that Lean leader certifications should be completed by December of this year.
In response to a question from Charlton, McKee said that corrective action sessions are conducted on a regular basis to not only introduce newly recruited employees to the Lean system of operations but to also monitor all the teams to ensure they are continuing to employ efficient techniques over the long haul. He said the monitoring takes place at least once every six months. “If you don’t monitor, then things will slide back to the old way of doing things,” McKee said.
The meeting also included a trio of reports on ongoing maintenance projects as well as the impending demolition of the old Marian Health Centre in Radville now that the new centre is fully operational and occupied.
