By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Those attending the Northumberland Hills Hospital annual general meeting June 22 heard the 2022-2023 year characterized by President and Chief Executive Officer Susan Walsh as “another remarkable year of growth, innovation and success.
“We are most fortunate to have a truly wonderful organization at NHH”
Three highlights,” Walsh said.
She and board chair Beth Selby expanded on these remarks for those in attendance at the hospital’s Peter B. and Mary T. Smith Community Education Centre.
Selby extended gratitude to the commitment shown by the extraordinary volunteers in the Patient and Family Advisory Council, as well as the NHH Auxiliary and Foundation.
The Foundation has just launched the Exceptional Community, Exceptional Care campaign – the largest such campaign ever in Northumberland County history – to raise $25-million to update equipment and enhance hospital services in a number of areas. And the Auxiliary has chipped in fully $1-million of the $18-million raised to date.
Walsh said that, for her, three special highlights characterize this past year.
Winning Accreditation with Exemplary Standing from Accreditation Canada meant they had earned “the highest possible achievement in a rigourous continuous quality-improvement process we opt into on a regular basis.”
Not only is this a testament to their dedication and expertise, she said, but it is also an assurance to the community of exceptional quality and service.
The on-going recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic saw a significant milestone with the recent closure of the Cough, Cold and COVID Assessment Centre (originally the COVID-19 Assessment Centre) after three years. She applauded how this centre evolved over the course of the pandemic to meet the ever-changing needs of the community, “demonstrating nimbleness and commitment to customer service that earned, quite rightly, much appreciation.”
Finally, Walsh spoke to the Strategic Plan Framework that has been introduced and the collaborative efforts among community partners that has helped guide its development.
“We logged more than 500 touchpoints with local residents, patients, health-care providers and partners before arriving at a new shared purpose – People First – and four proposed strategic priorities to focus on in the coming years.”
Looking ahead, Walsh urges everyone to stay tuned for news of the celebrations planned this fall, when NHH celebrates the 20th anniversary of its move into the current building.
