Highlights of the Board of Directors regular public meeting

Campbellton, April 16, 2019 – The Board of Directors of Vitalité Health Network held its regular public meeting on Tuesday, April 16, 2019 in Campbellton. 

Support – transformation of the Restigouche Hospital Centre

In her opening statement, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Michelyne Paulin, spoke directly to patients of the Restigouche Hospital Centre (RHC) and their families. “Rest assured that the quality and safety of care at the RHC are among the main concerns of the Network's Board of Directors,” she stated, referring to the recent New Brunswick Ombud's report. “I know that your trust and that of many other people was shaken. I assure you that we are aware of the challenges and that we are strongly committed to supporting the necessary transformation of the RHC. You are our number one priority and we will not let you down.”  

The Chairperson also reiterated the unwavering support of the Board of Directors for the Network’s Leadership Team as well as for the employees and medical staff of the RHC, who are fully committed to the facility’s transformation process.

Organizational performance – positive results

The Network announced its financial results for the period of April 1, 2018 to February 28, 2019.  The organization recorded an operating surplus of $3.5 million as a result of expenses under budget for the period.  This surplus is due to human resources challenges in clinical sectors that the Network must address. 

Significant progress in pressure ulcer care

In the interest of improving patient care, the pressure ulcer care program was recently updated. During the meeting, Jenny Toussaint, Regional Director, Intensive Care and Cardiac Wellness Program, confirmed that it was important to have a consistent system. “Over the years, we noticed that data available on the subject were not consistent and that we had different practices from one facility to the next. Therefore, the goal was to find a universal work, training, assessment and documentation method. We based ourselves on the best processes used by all our hospitals to be able to get figures that were representative of reality, for all of our zones,” she explained. 

We made several changes to the pressure ulcer assessment processes to get the overall compliance that we were looking for. Improvement initiatives are coordinated across the Network; for instance, the purchase and use of various treatment and prevention equipment are standardized. Despite having current results that are better than the national average, the Network still expects an additional 5% decrease in pressure ulcers across its hospitals by 2020. “We aim for continuous improvement in quality and risk management to further improve our standards and be able to provide our patients with outstanding service,” concluded Ms. Toussaint.

Next meeting

The next regular public meeting of the Board of Directors of the Network will be held on Tuesday, June 18, 2019, at 1 p.m., at the Centre culturel de Caraquet, located at 220 boulevard Saint-Pierre Ouest, in Caraquet. The regular meeting will immediately be followed by the 2018–2019 Annual General Meeting.