Annual Report of Chief of Staff to
Wilson Memorial General Hospital 

Board AGM 

June 23, 2009 

As this year for the board ends, I want to thank the board for the opportunity of serving as Chief of Staff since January 2008.    It has been a pleasure working with this administration and board over the past one and a half years.  I believe that this has been another very positive year for the provision of medical care to the communities served by Wilson Memorial General Hospital. 

Medical Staff:  

I would like to highlight again that we have another year of relative stability as a medical staff.  We were very pleased to have Dr. Nelvia vanDorp joined us in November of last year.  She is  committed to staying into the fall of 2009. We were also very pleased to welcome back Dr. Scott Wilson returning in January after his one year educational leave of absence.  Dr. Wilson acquired and is now putting to good use, new skills in the provision of anaesthesia services.  While he is doing locums in larger centres to maintain his skills, he has also helped make our local colonoscopy program and cataract program successful, and has provided good support for our emergency services. 

WMGH’s active staff  physicians currently include Dr. Eliseo Orrantia, Dr. Nancy Fitch, Dr. Barb Zelek (President of medical staff), Dr. Peter Cuniffe, Dr. Mary Wilson, Dr. Scott Wilson and myself.  Dr. van Dorp is working under locum privileges. 

Locums  

We have been pleased to be able to recruit a number of locums through the past year who have come to work for our group and provide coverage so that local physicians can go to conferences, on vacation or on leave.  I believe it is a testament to their good experiences here that a number of the locums we have had in the past choose to come back again.  However, we have struggled, like most communities in Ontario, to find the number of locums that would be ideal for key periods such as spring break, Christmas and the summer.    The board of the hospital will need to remain aware of physician human resource issues into the future in support of the local medical staff. 

Learners: 

Through the past year, we have hosted a number of NOSM learners at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.  We have been host to 4 NOSM students on mandatory placements here, as well as  residents from NOSM and elective students from other medical schools.  We are pleased to note that the opportunity to learn in Marathon has been requested by many learners this past year, more in fact than we are able to accommodate.  We have also had the opportunity as a community to host or participate in some special social events including the medical student barbeque in September, a “Milestone Celebrations” event for the graduating class of medical students and we hosted the graduating residents here for their first NOSM FM ROCS graduating class.   

We hope that the learners with whom your medical staff builds good relationships will be the pool of physicians in the years to come from which the community can draw future providers 

Clinical Services: 

All of our usual clinical services including obstetrics, emergency room coverage, chemotherapy and cataract surgery and chemotherapy have been provided this past year.  Exercise Stress testing which was not done during Dr. Wilson’s leave of absence has been resumed since his return. Dr. Nancy Fitch continues to work with the rehab department to support patients with chronic pain to access trigger point injections which she does on a referral basis.  Dr. Barb Zelek is providing ultrasound services for pregnant women and will continue to do so as the Diagnostic Imaging staff acquire this skill.  Dr. Orrantia continues to work as a local coroner which supports this community as well as other area communities who need that service. 

As a medical staff, we continue to work with community partners to ensure the smooth delivery of care for patients in our communities who are receiving home care and palliation outside of the hospital setting.  I co-chair the community based End of Life committee to help to ensure that all partners work together for good patient care regardless of the setting of the patient. 

We are very  pleased with the inception of the colonoscopy program and congratulate the hospital on the smooth operation of this clinical service. 

As a medical staff we continue to look for ways that we can support the delivery of medical services closer to home and we hope to continue to be innovative partners in this endeavour into the year to come. 

CQI:  

The medical staff continues to maintain our commitment to continuous quality improvement following a process that allows us to look at difficult, challenging or important cases that arise locally and we work towards enhancing all of the physicians knowledge and management skills.  We have provided educational sessions for ourselves and participate in many of the telehealth educational initiatives offered through OTN and NOSM.  In addition, the physicians remain committed to their own professional development and have each attended a variety of CPD events that support their learning.   

We have aligned ourselves with the hospital board in prioritizing patient safety and have made review of issues in patient safety a part of every MAC agenda. 

It is challenging for a small medical staff to provide the clinical care at the clinic and hospital facilities as well as maintain their committee involvements and produce and participate in CQI.  I am grateful for the efforts of the medical staff to continue to improve the medical care provided here. 

Accomplishments: 

I want to congratulate the hospital on a successful strategic planning process which continues to evolve.    I also want to congratulate the hospital on a successful accreditation this year.  I extend my gratitude to the medical staff who participated in accreditation committees and who participated in the site visit.  As a medical staff we are very proud of the work done by all hospital staff to achieve our hospital accreditation. 

I want to offer our congratulations to the hospital and to the board on a successful year.  The development of the colonoscopy  program has required a dedicated effort from many and the successful initiation of this is a very important step for this facility.   

The medical staff here ha been pleased to work along side  the other care providers and support staff in this facility.  We are thankful for their dedication and professionalism.  

I believe that the Board of Directors of Wilson Memorial General Hospital and the community we serve should  be proud of the work done by its medical staff and by the hospital team as a whole.  

In the spirit of excellent health care delivery, 

Sarah Newbery MD CCFP FCFP 

Chief of Staff