The Sydenham District Hospital board was re-elected at the annual general meeting on Thursday night at the UAW Hall in Wallaceburg, while a representative from Walpole Island was appointed to the board as well.
Sheldon Parsons, Kris Lee, Herb John, Conrad Noel and George Lung all gathered enough votes from the SDH membership to continue on with their roles. Doug Cameron and Bill Steep came up short in the election, while John Cryderman withdrew his name from the ballot.
“We have got a wonderful path forward,” Parsons told reporters following the meeting.
“All of the things that the board put together and presented to the membership on April 19th have be reaffirmed by the consultant group that we hired and that gives us then the foundation to begin the process of delivering on the promise of the vision. That would be a single location, multi service facility that response efficiently and effectively to the needs of the community.”
Parsons added: “The board is very committed on repairing the damage and restoring the services that are responsible and are expected by the patients and the residents within the community that we serve.”
Walpole Island member appointed to SDH
After some bylaw amendments were approved by the SDH membership, this allowed the board to appoint a member from Walpole Island First Nation.
“Very pleased to hear that Walpole Island Band Council acted so quickly,” Parsons said.
“We only gave them the letter on Monday and by Thursday they gave a response. It is great to have Rex on board. He will immediately begin to work with us as a full voting director on the board and we expect that with his presence and participation we are going to have a very strong bond with Walpole Island residents for years to come.”
Isaac, who has served as a Walpole Island band council member and was the NDP candidate for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex in the last Federal Election, said he plans to take his new role very seriously.
“It’s not one of those things you want to jump up and down and say hooray about because there is a lot of work involved in it. It is a serious job and serious things we have to deal with,” Isaac told the Sydenham Current following the meeting.
“I am proud to be part of it for a couple of reasons. One, I like the challenge but I also like the people I will be working with. I think the working relationship that I have established with them already, not only is there knowledge and strengths that we pull from each other but we also have a rapport where it doesn’t become monotonous and mundane.”
Isaac added: “There are so many things that can bring you down and drag your spirit down but spirit wise, education and balance wise I think it is a great team and I look forward to meeting all of those challenges and securing a long term solution to our health needs here in our communities.”
Isaac said a long term plan is needed, not just short term solutions.
“What happened is just what happened five years ago or in 2008, they had a short term solution,” he said.
“They took away some more from the hospital and they continue to do so. They only way that we are going to be able to address it is having this long term solution. The vision is what they are calling it. Having both the Ministry and the LHIN endorse that and moving forward. If we continue to just look at short term solutions and saying ”
okay, we are out of the woods for a couple years again’ we are going to continue going through this. I want to see something that is secure for at least 20 years, if not longer.”
Colin Patey, CKHA executive not in attendance
Not in attendance at the AGM were the executive team for the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, or the auditors of the board’s financial reports.
This took the SDH board by surprise, Parsons said.
“Up until mid afternoon we were expecting CKHA staff here,” Parsons said.
“We were expecting the presentation of the financial statements. We were expecting presentations of other reports. We were expecting the auditors KPMG to be here to explain their auditing process and late this afternoon we learned that, that was not going to be the case.”
Parsons added: “I thought we had a very good meeting. It was tame by comparisons. I am always disappointed when all the participants that should be there are not involved, but I am tinkled pink with the outcome of this meeting and the direction that we have taken.”
Investigation on-going
Parsons addressed the investigation that was initiated by the Ministry of Health to the SDH membership on Thursday, and to the media afterwards.
Earlier this month, the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care appointed Bonnie Adamson as an investigator to work with the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA). Adamson, the former president and CEO for London Health Sciences Centre, North York General, the Huron Perth Hospitals Partnership, accepted the appointment and will be working with the three CKHA hospital Boards.
“We are fully cooperating with the investigator,” Parsons said.
“Those meeting have begun. We expect the process to take a reasonable amount of time. I don’t think we can expect a speedy turnaround. It is a significant issue that Bonnie has taken on and the process with be kept confidential by our board. We have been asked to do that and we will observe that and certainly comply with that request.”
Progress report, vision
During the meeting, Kris Lee presented the SDH progress report. It can be viewed in its entirety here: SDH progress Report: Our Story, Our Future
Herb John also provided a presentation of the draft report created by Shore Consulting, a firm hired by SDH to work on the SDH vision.
