2022 Annual General Meeting
The 2022 Annual General Meeting was held on Wednesday, June 15 at 6:30 pm in the Octagon Room, 95 Spring Street, Almonte, Ontario.
Notes for remarks by Dave Perley, Almonte General Hospital Board Chair - June 15, 2022
As Chair of the Almonte General Hospital and Fairview Manor Board I am pleased to submit a Board Chair report for the 2021-22 year.
This will be my second year, and last, as Chair of the Board and it has been a distinct honour and privilege to serve in this capacity. Over that time I have had the pleasure of working with the most dedicated and passionate group of Directors whose complete focus has been ensuring that the best healthcare is available in our area and beyond. Much has been accomplished and our Board’s goal has always been to support the work of leaders, staff and physicians of the Hospital, Manor and the Lanark County Paramedic Service.
Over the past year, and building on the foundation of our Mississippi River Health Alliance with the Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital, we created joint committee sessions with Directors from both Hospitals. I am glad to report that these joint committees created a more diverse and better governance of both groups. Many hours of hard work was done with respect to crafting new by-laws for each hospital in addition to revising the original Alliance Agreement. The drivers of the Agreement include the ability to work together to improve the quality of care, to ensure the best service delivery and to improve overall resource deployment. Much credit goes to the Joint Governance and Nominating Committee lead by both Co-Chairs, Richard Chmiel of the Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital and Randy Larkin of the Almonte General Hospital. Great job guys and thanks from all of us. The cooperation of the Directors has been absolutely fantastic and I would like to thank Carleton Place Hospital Board Chair, Carol Anne Esnard, for her leadership and cooperation. Successes here include the integrated roles and committees, establishment of common policies, an integrated strategic plan and an integrated Clinical Services and Quality Care Plan. The joint Boards have also held retreats and planning sessions during the entire process. An initiative that started between the two hospitals in 2016 will culminate in even greater healthcare for the community under the banner of ‘Better Together’.
COVID did not disappear over the past year but with vaccinations and swabbing the community spread was lessened. Special thanks for the planning and execution of these elements goes to our Integrated Director of Allied Health Services and CAC lead, Patti Morton.
I would like to recognize our Chief of Staff, Dr. Graeme McKillop who ensured that 100% of the medical staff was vaccinated and, working with the Chief of Staff at Carleton Place, demonstrated a joint commitment to the Corporate goals of advancing medical leadership cooperation. This has also resulted in increased referrals between AGH and CPDMH and has gone a long way to support the initiatives of the Mississippi River Health Alliance. Thank you Graeme.
Also thanks to our Paramedics who assisted so capably in this area. Under the able leadership of Chief Travis Mellema they once again worked in partnership with the local Health Unit operating the COVID Assessment, Testing and Vaccinations services. The Paramedics work long hours to keep our catchment area safe and we are very fortunate to have such a dedicated group of professionals.
Our application for the CT Scan is still before the Ministry and working its way through the process. We have received written confirmation from the Ministry of Health that they support the installation of a CT Scan at the Almonte General Hospital. Randy Shaw, Integrated Vice-President of Operations, has been working directly with the Ministry to confirm the design of the CT Suite and understand the impacts of our post-COVID world on the construction costs. This diagnostic tool is a ‘standard of care’ and we are very much looking forward to its implementation. Of course the purchase of this equipment would not be possible without the hard work and passion of our Hospital Foundation. I would like to thank Rob Scott, Foundation Chair and ED Al Roberts for their leadership on the all important fund raising for the Hospital and Manor’s capital requirements. The establishment of the ‘Cabinet’ to focus on the CT fundraising has already paid significant dividends.
The integrated senior management team has had another great year under the most trying of circumstances. Certainly ‘not business as usual’! My thanks to Kimberley Harbord as the Integrated Vice-President of Finance and for her diligence with the Finance and Audit portfolio. Randy Shaw as Integrated Vice-President of Operations has had another outstanding year making sure that all physical aspects of the Hospital are in good working order. A very special thanks to Jason Haan, Integrated Vice-President and Chief Nursing officer for his many contributions to the clinical portion of the Hospital. We were very fortunate to have Jason with us for the time that we did and I would like to take this opportunity to wish him all of the best and thank him for his work with Almonte General Hospital and Fairview Manor.
I would like to recognize and thank our President and Chief Executive Officer, Mary Wilson Trider for her leadership during my tenure as Board Chair over the past 2 years.
Tina McLelland is truly the glue that holds everything administratively together. Her support, dedication, passion and hard work more than ably assisted me in providing the leadership to the Board over the past two years. Thanks so much Tina for all that you have done for me and by extension the entire Board. I would also like to thank Angie Kelly and Cindy Skebo for the support they provide to the Joint Board Quality, Finance and Capital Projects Committees.
I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Board Director Susan Muston for here time and dedication to the Almonte/Fairview Manor Board. Susan will be stepping down from her role after serving a second term for the past six years. Susan has served on a number of committees in that period and no one perused the past minutes in greater detail than the way Susan did. We will miss you Susan and wish you all the best.
Lastly, but not at all least, I would thank the entire Board for their support and encouragement over the past two years. We were not able to hold even one in-person Board or committee meeting but thanks to your patience and use of technology we were able to accomplish the job of providing good governance to both the Hospital and Fairview Manor. Your many, many hours of volunteerism and preparation for these meetings is what provides our catchment area with the best healthcare going.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dave Perley, Board Chair
Almonte General Hospital and Fairview Manor
Notes for remarks by Graeme McKillop, Almonte General Hospital Chief of Staff - June 15, 2022
As we are often reminded, the Covid-19 pandemic is not over but this summer is beginning with more optimism and with a semblance of normality. Covid has taken a toll on us all and I have seen the effects on medical staff first hand. Living and working in a near perpetual crisis has exhausted our team and yet they persevered. I’m so impressed by their commitment, their work ethic and their compassion. I know that our medical staff rose to the challenges of this health crisis and I believe our community recognizes and appreciates this.
I especially want to recognize our chief of Emergency Medicine, Dr Ursula McGarry. She has been tireless and she has led by example in working extra shifts left vacant because of staffing shortages due to absence or illness. Over the past few months, she has, nearly single-handedly, kept our ER open.
I welcome this new alliance of the hospital boards and, to the same end, we will continue to build bridges and look for opportunities to increase cooperation and collaboration between AGH and CPMDH medical staff. Our goal is to build the capacity of both hospitals by fully harnessing the skills of both teams, reducing the duplication of services and combining resources where possible to attract new and valuable clinical services to our communities. This initiative is already yielding results. This is my 20th year of practice here in Almonte and I’m encouraged by the progress I’ve seen. Our hospital culture is one that emphasizes quality, values and responds to the input of patients and families and respects and values hospital staff. I’m proud to be part of this team.
Thank you,
Graeme McKillop, Chief of Staff
Notes for remarks by Mary Wilson Trider, President & CEO, Almonte General Hospital - June 15, 2022
It is a very great pleasure to deliver my report to this 60th Annual General Meeting IN PERSON. A long road has brought us back together again – and it is a road that our staff, physicians and leaders have travelled with perseverance, commitment and dedication. Always with the support of our Board of Directors.
Just when we thought we were managing well in the COVID-19 pandemic, along came the Omicron variant. Suddenly the rates of staff and physician illness with COVID and absence due to exposure went ‘way up. We found ourselves treating COVID inpatients and the virus made its way into Fairview Manor.
I cannot say enough about all of the individuals who have stepped up and continue to step up to ensure that our patients and residents receive safe, high quality care. We are all very grateful for the knowledge and wisdom of Cheryl Bourgeau and Aileen Puckett in our Integrated Occupational Health and Infection Prevention & Control department. Everyone in the organization has relied on their guidance. Our physician and staff leaders have worked extremely hard and with great ingenuity to meet the requirements of various Ministries while responding with empathy and compassion to the needs of those for who they are responsible.
On top of her operational responsibilities as Integrated Director of Allied Health, Patti Morton has given yeoman service to ensure the smooth running of our COVID Assessment, Testing and Vaccination centre in partnership with Leeds Grenville Lanark Public Health for the benefit of the citizens of North Lanark and communities farther afield.
Across all of our divisions, people are tired and I’m hoping that Summer will bring the opportunity of rest and relaxation for everyone.
Again this year the families who put their faith in us to care for their loved ones have been tested by the various and changing restrictions on visiting and in particular restrictions on accompanying patients into our outpatient areas. Their patience and understanding throughout has been greatly appreciated and has also contributed to keeping our patients and residents healthy.
I cannot leave the subject of COVID-19 without recognizing the outstanding leadership of our Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Paula Stewart. She has been extremely open with sharing information, collaborative in bringing organizations from across the region together to problem solve and generous with sharing her wisdom and excellent advice. Dr. Stewart is retiring this summer and we will certainly miss her.
Despite the disruption and distraction of the pandemic, our small and mighty organization continued to provide excellent care to patients and residents.
997 adults received care as hospital inpatients and 14,278 people visited the Emergency Department. The Hospital’s Diagnostic Imaging Department did over 12,000 x-rays and ultrasounds. Fairview Manor provided 38,588 days of care to our residents. Our Lanark County Paramedics responded to over 27,000 calls.
And that’s just our “normal business”.
On top of our usual work and responding to the pandemic, our leaders, physicians and staff worked to advance the organization through the achievement of a number of corporate goals approved by the Board of Directors for the 2021/22 fiscal year.
The maturation of our Family Medicine OB program, including the addition of Dr. Melanie Fortune to the group, and the addition of Dr. Anca Matei to our Obstetrician/Gynaecologist team supported 387 births at AGH in the 2021/22 year. This is an increase of 21% over the previous year.
A focus on patient flow and efficiency in the Operating Room improved utilization to 90%, which meant that over 1,000 people had a needed surgical procedure. Credit goes to the entire team, including Dr. Heather Abramenko, Chief of Perioperative Services, Hannah Larkin, Integrated Manager of Surgical Services and Wei Zhou, the Team Lead, for this achievement in a year when every surgical day was subject to last minute cancellations due to COVID.
We were also pleased to introduce bedside shift reporting in all of our inpatient units. This practice of shift to shift hand off between the nursing staff at the bedside rather than the desk includes the patient in discussions about his or her care, improving the flow of information and the patient’s experience.
A real highlight of the past year was expansion of the Community Paramedicine program to include supporting seniors on the provincial long term care waitlist or soon to be eligible for long term care, with community paramedicine services in the comfort of their own homes including the ability to provide remote patient monitoring.
The program also now includes the provision of a range of services to Home Hospice North Lanark clients in their homes. These services include wellness checks, Vitals/ECG, Needs/Risk assessments, Mental health assessments, Covid testing and vaccine, Medication compliance, Health education, Urine Dips, Blood Analysis, and the Influenza vaccine. All of this supports palliative patients stay in their homes as long as they wish to.
Chief Travis Mellema, Deputy Chief Breanne Lapointe and Superintendent Janice Steele are all to be commended for their passion and leadership of our community paramedicine program.
I look forward to reporting this time next year on a number of initiatives that are currently underway including a Caregiver ID project in collaboration with our Lanark Leeds Grenville Ontario Health Team partners, a centralized booking service for AGH and CPDMH and the expansion of our very important peer support program, currently so successful in Lanark County Paramedic Service, to the two hospitals.
As all of you know, our ability to provide safe, high quality patient and resident care relies on operational funding from the Ministries of Health and Long Term Care – and of course the County of Lanark for our Paramedic Service. It also relies on fundraising to purchase the equipment our staff and physicians need to diagnose, treat and care for patients and residents. I would like to add my thanks to the members of the AGH/FVM Foundation Board and to its staff for all they have done over the past year to raise money for both current equipment needs and our future CT Scan purchase.
We are also grateful to Lanark County Council which once again provided a grant of $100,000 to the AGH/FVM Foundation.
I spoke a few moments ago about the commitment that our staff and physicians. Sadly, in reference to last year I am unable to include volunteers because COVID restrictions kept them out of our buildings. I am very pleased to say, though, that we have recently begun to welcome volunteers back to undertake the very important work they do in support of excellent care.
To our dedicated staff and medical staff, thank you to all those who have gone above and beyond this year at the bedside, in clinical support roles and behind the scenes.
I would also like to thank the members of our Leadership Team for another extraordinary year of dedication and commitment. Once again, they have risen to the challenges of leading a hospital, long term care home and paramedic service in uncertain times. I would like to recognize our new Leadership Team members Cheryl Bourgeau, Integrated Director of Occupational Health & Safety and Infection Prevention & Control and Crystal Newman, Assistant Director of Care at Fairview Manor and to congratulate Amanda Becking on her promotion to Director of Care at Fairview Manor, Stefano d’Asti on his promotion to Integrated Manager of Pharmacy, Lauren Varley, our Controller, on assuming her role on an integrated basis and Hannah Larkin on her new role as Integrated Manager of Patient Flow, Surgical Services and Medical Device Reprocessing.
We are both sad and happy to be saying good-bye to our Integrated Director of Human Resources Liz Glover at the end of this month. Sad, because she has provided outstanding leadership to her HR team and the whole organization since she re-joined us in 2016 and happy because she is retiring and will have more time to spend in her garden, with her family and doing things she loves to do. Thank you, Liz, for everything.
Grace Sutherland, Informatics Coordinator is also retiring this month – another happy/sad occasion for her colleagues. Grace has been the backbone of our online learning system and our Cerner system while also supporting clinical education for our Nursing staff. We will miss Grace’s expertise and calm “get it done” approach. Thank you, Grace, for all you have contributed to excellent patient and resident care.
I would also like to thank the members of the Senior Team for rising to the new challenges of the past year while providing thoughtful and engaged leadership to our staff and physicians. Graeme, Jason, Kimberley and Randy, thank you for your dedication to doing what is best for our patients, residents, staff and physicians – and for your commitment to supporting each other and me as Senior Team colleagues.
Jason, we will miss you after the end of this month. You have made improvements in both the clinical and administrative aspects of your role as our Chief Nursing Executive in your time with us. Best wishes in your new role as Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive at Kingston Health Sciences Centre. My thanks to Loralie Hachey for stepping up to be our Interim Integrated Chief Nursing Executive.
Some armies march on their stomachs, the army of the Senior Team could not march at all without Angie Kelly, Cindy Skebo and Tina McLelland who provide outstanding support and so much more to us, to the Medical Staff, to the organization and to the Board of Directors and its committees. Thank you for everything you have done over the past year.
Lastly, I would like to thank the members of our community who make up the Board of Directors for your leadership, vision and support. I am proud of all of you for the commitment to the Mississippi River Health Alliance that you have demonstrated over the past year with the development and recommendation of new by-laws that will bring AGH and CPDMH closer together. Special thanks from the entire Senior Management Team to Dave Perley for his outstanding leadership as Board Chair for the past two years.
That brings me to the end of my prepared remarks. I would be happy to answer questions if there are any.
Thank you
Mary Wilson Trider
Notes for remarks by Lyman Gardiner, Almonte General Hospital Board Finance Committee Chair - June 15, 2022
As Co-Chair of the Joint Finance Resources and Audit Committee, it is my pleasure to present the audited financial statements for the Almonte General Hospital which represent the results of operations for the year ended March 31, 2022, as well as the financial position for organization at that date. The results of the operations include the Hospital, Fairview Manor, and Lanark County Paramedic Services. This has been a year like no other with the ongoing global pandemic.
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT
You may note that the independent auditor’s report presents their opinion that the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Almonte General Hospital as at March 31, 2022; and the results of its operations, changes in net assets, cash flows, and re-measurement gains and losses for the year then ended are reported in accordance with Canadian public sector accounting standards.
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION
The Working Capital Ratio, representing Current Assets/Current Liabilities, decreased from .93 as at March 31, 2021 to .74 on March 31, 2022. AGH is focused on improving future cash flows. Ongoing efforts to increase hospital surplus operations and Ministry of Health Funding are key to achieving this.
We are pleased to report that we continue to invest in ongoing capital projects. Working together with the Ontario Ministry of Health and its Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund allowed AGH to invest approximately $498,000 in infrastructure projects. In addition, Ransomware Defense Funding of $95,000 was invested to improve information technology infrastructure. Finally, the Ministry of Health invested $65,000 in new surgical equipment under the Surgical Innovation Fund.
Also, we wish to thank the Foundation for its very generous support of the equipment purchases of $157,000 last year including stretchers, beds, mattresses, fiberscope, shower chairs, Doppler monitors, physio bike and wireless analyzer blood gas machine. In addition, The Foundation also contributed $95,000 to warranty expenses related to the Ultrasound and X-ray Department. Of course the AGH- FVM Foundation is there for us every year; with the unwavering support of the Community behind them.
The Hospital finished the year with $1,253,000 in net assets.
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
Results of Operations were a deficit of $620,000 compared to a surplus of $512,000 in the previous year, which were mainly attributed to lost revenues in the year due to COVID 19. Lost revenues were reimbursed by the Ministry of Health in the prior year.
We will strive to continue to provide quality services while seeking opportunities to increase efficiencies and generate opportunities for increased revenues.
I would like to now move the following motions:
Motion 1 - That the audited financial statements for the year ended March 31, 2022 be approved as presented.
Motion 2 - That the appointment of KPMG as the auditors for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023 be approved
(Motions were moved, seconded and carried)
It has been an exciting year for the newly established Joint Finance Resources and Audit Committee.
I want to recognize Chelsea Snyder as my Co-Chair of the first annual Joint Committee. Chelsea demonstrated skill, leadership and support as we worked to align the Committees. As Co-Chair, I enjoyed learning about the Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital and work alongside new Committee members to gain further insight to their operations.
The enthusiasm of all Committee members to ensure the success and alignment of a Joint Committee was tremendous. Thank you to the Committee for your thoughtful insights, discussion and contributions during our meetings.
Of course, the Committee could not achieve their mandate without the exceptional professional skill and support of the Management team and their support team; thank you to them for their hard work and dedication during the past year.
In closing, I would like to thank the members of the Board for their good work and due diligence throughout the year.
Thank you very much.
Lyman Gardiner
Co-Chair, Joint Finance Resources and Audit Committee
Download the 2022 Report to the Community