Hospital leaders and MPP Jim Wilson discuss recent successes and current challenges

(Alliston, Ontario – October 18, 2011)  Earlier today, as part of a continuous and ongoing effort to collaborate and partner with members of the community, Stevenson Memorial Hospital President and CEO Gary Ryan, along with Chairman of the Board of Directors Scott Anderson, met with Simcoe-Grey MPP Jim Wilson.

Initiated by Ryan and Anderson, the meeting was a chance for the leadership team at Stevenson to connect one-on-one with MPP Wilson to share some of the Hospital’s recent successes and identify opportunities to work together to address Stevenson’s current challenges.

“We were pleased to welcome MPP Wilson to Stevenson today for a robust and meaningful conversation about our hospital, and how we can collaborate going forward to better meet the needs of our growing and changing communities,” said Anderson. “We are grateful to MPP Wilson for seeing the value and importance of a frank conversation about local healthcare, and his support and evident interest to date in the work that our talented team of professionals is undertaking.” 

Ryan took a moment to update MPP Wilson on some of the Hospital’s successes over the past few years since the new Board of Directors was created, such as the reopening of the Obstetrics Program in 2008 and new Hospital programs and services. 

“We are so proud of the fact that we are, to our knowledge, one of the only two hospitals in Ontario that lost its Obstetrics Program and were able to reopen it with a brand new vision and sense of purpose,” Ryan told MPP Wilson. “We take pride in our newest programs and services such as our new CT Scanner, and feel confident that we have – through hard work and a renewed focus – been able to regain the community’s trust after the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s supervision ended almost three years ago.”

MPP Wilson took a keen interest in hearing about Stevenson’s successes, but also wanted to learn more about the challenges the Hospital is facing with respect to its ability to deliver on its promise to provide the community with timely, accessible healthcare services.

Ryan, Anderson, and MPP Wilson talked about the Hospital’s three major challenges, the first being the ongoing need for the integration of local clinical healthcare services.

“As a small community hospital, there are services that we are unable to provide because of our size and available resources,” Ryan said during the meeting. “This has been an ongoing challenge for us, but we would like to improve this situation by focusing our energy on strengthening our existing clinical relationship with our major partner, Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket.”

Ryan continued, shedding light on the second major challenge: the need for a bigger hospital.

“As you can see,” Ryan said with an arm gesture to illustrate his point, “although the facility is well-kept, we are reaching the 50-year mark and the building is not designed with today’s quality and safety standards in mind. We need to be working closely with you, the Government, and members of the community, to build our case for solutions to address our infrastructure challenges in the future.” 

To round out the discussion on the Hospital’s challenges, Ryan touched on a topic that is not unique to Stevenson: alternate level of care (ALC) pressures. Addressing the ALC challenge has been a common predicament for hospitals, ministries, and governments alike. According to Ryan, Stevenson has routinely been the hospital with the highest percentage of ALC patients within the Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) boundaries.

MPP Wilson listened attentively to Ryan and Anderson, asked questions where appropriate, and offered his support for Stevenson in its ongoing attempt to provide residents in the Hospital’s catchment area with the absolute best possible care.

"The hospital continues to be a top priority for me and the community," said MPP Wilson. "We've proven that when we work together as a community we can get things done, and now it's time to turn our attention towards building a new hospital to enhance the services that patients and families rely on."

A similar meeting – between Hospital leadership and the Central LHIN, one of 14 provincial agencies with a mandate to coordinate, integrate, plan, and fund local healthcare – took place at the end of September, resulting in a stronger partnership and support from the Central LHIN to help find solutions to local challenges.