New TSH board to be named this month
A year has made a huge difference for local hospital
What a difference a year makes.
Last summer, Scarborough resident Lai Chu was spearheading a court challenge to The Scarborough Hospital's board of directors, a case which would ultimately lead to former hospital president Dr. Hugh Scott and board members being replaced.
Also last July, the province appointed supervisor Rob Devitt to run the hospital's operations.
Fast forward to this summer.
Chu has been part of a committee to select 12 community representatives of a new board, expected to be announced by the end of July.
"It was by invitation of Rob Devitt, the supervisor. I was honoured to be selected," she said.
Chu is confident the new board will listen to the community regarding the hospital's delivery of health care services.
"This group we've chosen, I'm impressed. They seem to be very committed. We can't go any other way than up," she said. "I think they understand where the community is coming from. They (residents) don't want to run the hospital, they want quality health care."
Chu praised the new board members as highly qualified people.
"It takes a lot of courage to want to spend your volunteer time at the hospital board, especially with all the negative coverage (of the former board)," she added.
During an interview Wednesday covering a wide range of issues from The Scarborough Hospital's infection rates to ongoing construction of the new emergency room, interim president Dr. John Wright and Anne Marie Males, the hospital's director of public affairs, confirmed the announcement of new board members will come by the end of July.
"I think the people of Scarborough will be very, very pleased with the calibre of people who have stepped forward," said Males, adding more than 300 applicants put their names forward.
Devitt, also president of Toronto East General Hospital, has designed a three-day "boot camp" to teach the new board members their duties, Males said.
One of the board's priorities will be to select a new hospital president. Devitt has narrowed the search to three candidates.
A date for Devitt's departure as supervisor has not yet been determined, said Wright, pointing out he was appointed to oversee particularly sensitive issues facing the hospital.
The board selection process will act as the first step in a bigger process to establish stronger ties between the hospital and the community, said Males, acknowledging a wide gulf that had developed leading up to last year's court case.
"The bridges weren't there. The forums weren't there. There wasn't an opportunity to have a meaningful discussion," Males said.
"The whole system has to be much more consultative with the public about where you want the hospital to go. You can't communicate with strangers. We didn't take this (board selection process) as a one-off."
To that end, Wright said hospital officials have engaged in an extensive community consultation process over the last several months.
For example, they spoke to many community groups and commissioned an independent survey by Pollara.
The poll stressed residents want the new board to focus on ensuring quality of health care services and reducing wait times before administrative duties such as formulating a strategic plan.
"Hospitals have tended to be like a company that tells you what you should want to buy rather than a company saying 'What do you really want us to provide?'" Wright said.
The Scarborough Hospital is now dedicated to being a hospital that lets residents have a significant hand in shaping the facility's destiny, he said.
