Wilson Memorial General Hospital 

Chief Executive Officer 

Annual Report 

April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009 

It is my pleasure to submit the Chief Executive Officer’s Annual Report to the members of the Corporation of Wilson Memorial General Hospital for the period April 1st, 2008 to March 31st, 2009. 

Wilson Memorial General Hospital continues to fulfill its mission of providing quality health care to our clients both within and beyond our catchment area.  Each year the hospital staff is presented with new challenges while they continue to deal with past challenges.  We continue to face increased demand from the public for additional services due to our aging population.  This situation is expected to escalate over the coming years.  Our challenge is to maintain an acceptable balance between finances and client services. 

The dedication and hard work of the Staff, Medical Staff and Board has permitted Wilson Memorial General Hospital to advance the quantity and quality of health services we provide.  We can now celebrate the successes we achieved during the 2008/2009 operating year. 

Wilson Memorial General Hospital’s operations for the 2008/2009 fiscal year resulted in a minor deficit prior to building amortization of $88,821.00 based on a total operating budget of $6,178,646.00.  There were a number of situations this year that contributed to our deficit.  We had additional start up cost for the colonoscopy programs and the lack of funding to support a number of these cases resulted in additional stain on our resources.  Increased energy cost appears to the main issue that resulted in a deficit.  The down turn in the economy is reflected in hospital revenues showing lower then anticipated client revenues.  Hospitals in Ontario are not protected during down turns in our economy and similar to other suppliers of services we must continue to be creative in order to meet the demands of our clients. 

In September of 2008 our organization began a new Regional Colonoscopy Program.  This program was supported by Ontario Cancer Care, North West LHIN and Hemlo Operations who generously donated $75,000.00 towards this program.  We were able to implement this program with the assistance of the general surgeons from Thunder Bay.  The Colonoscopy Program continues to be highly successful going beyond our expectations.   Once again the many challenge is financial. 

Our Regional Cataract Program continues to grow with very positive feedback form the public.  We are hopeful that the 2009/2010 operating year see greater expansion this program and others under the provincial wait time strategy. 

Under the direction of Wilson Memorial General Hospital the Marathon and Area Aging At Home committee has been actively developing an Aging in Place model for northern and rural communities.  The hospital and community look forward to working this North West LHINs in the future on implementing services for seniors that will allow them to achieve healthy aging in Marathon and surrounding area. 

Support from the North West LHINs has enabled the hospital to create a new position for the Community Coordinator.  This individual will assist our senior residents in dealing with non-medical issues.  Over the next few years we anticipate the development of additional services and programs aimed at our senior population. 

The North West LHINs support other community by distributing a Senior’s Van to the Wilson Memorial General Hospital.  This van became operational at the beginning of 2009 give transportation to and from medical appointments.  The community seeing a weakness with the Senior’s Van donated funds and with the assistance of our local LHINs we were able to send the van for conversion to make it accessible.  

Wilson Memorial General Hospital and The McCausland Hospital have entered into a formal Joint Venture agreement in June 2008 which became the framework toward integration.  In the fall of 2008 both facilities held community strategic planning session in order to seek input on future direction.  Separate strategic plans were developed however it is the goal to have a single plan that incorporates both facilities in the near future.  Over the next few years both organizations will be working together to identify, implement and operate various integration initiatives.  The purpose of these initiatives will be to enhance healthcare delivery and to develop innovative solutions for the local health care system.   

In summary, I sincerely thank each and every one of the Hospital staff and the Medical staff for their dedication, commitment and hard work.  Our staff has always served the community with the highest degree of excellence and each is a credit to his/her individual profession. 

I would also like to thank the entire Wilson Memorial General Hospital team, which is made up of the Board of Directors, the Auxiliary, volunteers and all the residents of our catchment area.  Your support over the pass year has allowed Wilson Memorial General Hospital to continue to provide first class health care services to the community. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Paul Paradis  

Chief Executive Officer