REPORT FROM THE BOARD
The regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors was held on 09 February 2016.
EDUCATION SESSION
Palliative Care at St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre – Mrs. McNally indicated that much rewarding work by the Palliative Care Advisory Team has taken place at the Centre in the last few months. The interest and contribution of staff in the provision of quality Palliative Care speaks to their commitment to the Mission. Mrs. McNally explained the focus of the committee’s work, the palliative project, the palliative trajectory, end-of-life care, the indicator tool for palliative care screening, the Changes in Health, End-stage, Disease, Signs and Symptoms (CHESS) Score, and Learning Essential Approaches to Palliative and End-of-life Care (LEAP) training and components. A Room Blessing has been initiated whereby new residents/patients are greeted with a welcoming card, explaining that their room has previously been blessed – a reminder of God’s care and protection.
Mrs. McNally was congratulated by the Board of Directors and asked that its appreciation be extended to the Palliative Care Advisory Team members for their accomplishments, carrying on the Mission in the spirit of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph.
CORRESPONDENCE
Resignation of Mr. Naugler – Due to a change in employment, Mr. Naugler will no longer be able to attend Board meetings. The Board of Directors accepted Mr. Naugler’s resignation, with regret.
In Appreciation – Thank you cards were received from the families of Mr. Richard Bray and Mrs. Margaret Cox for funeral flowers sent.
Thank You Cards – Three retirees have sent Thank you cards for flowers sent to them on their first day of retirement: Anne Bethune, Lucie Allaire and Sherry O’Keefe.
CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT
Executive Director Search – Ms. MacLennan explained that the Executive Director Search Committee will meet on February 10th.
Parking at Hospitals – The directive received from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care regarding parking at hospitals is not applicable to our Centre because we are under the rate threshold charged.
REPORT FROM ADMINISTRATION
Mrs. Ruest’s report included Auditor General Report, Health System Restructuring, Physician-assisted Death (four-month extension), Sub-acute Capacity Planning, Pre-budget Advocacy (invitation to Mr. Jim McDonell), Good News Items (donations from the Fund of $14,500 from Lights of Hope Campaign; plus $25,000 in support of 2015-16 capital equipment needs and committed to a further $25,000 in capital funding for 2016-17. Also, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 297 donated $4,000 to help fund an overhead lift in Long-Term Care), and Census data. Also reviewed was the Corporate Policy #3-a-30 – Health and Safety Policy which was approved as presented.
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT (QI) / SAFETY COMMITTEE
Employee Satisfaction Survey – The results of the survey were very favourable. The threshold for developing an Action Plan was any question that scored below 80 percent. There are no areas with scores below 80 percent. Ninety-six percent of staff reported being proud to work here and 99 percent reported they know, understand and contribute to the Mission, Vision and Values of St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre. There was a 48 percent response rate.
ETHICS AND MISSION COMMITTEE
Room Blessings – The Board was appreciative of the new Room Blessing programme.
COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING, FINANCE AND PERSONNEL RELATIONS COMMITTEE (CPFPRC)
Management Fiduciary Statement – The Management Fiduciary Statement for the months of November and December 2015 was approved by the Board of Directors.
Financial Statements – Mr. Desnoyers referred to the December statements and provided comments. The Financial Statements for the periods ended 30 November 2015 and 31 December 2015 were approved by the Board as presented.
Purchases re NuStep Bicycle and Telephone System Upgrade – The Board of Directors approved a motion that a NuStep bicycle and an upgrade to the telephone system be purchased for a total estimated cost of $21,000 in fiscal year 2015-16.
Operating and Capital Budget 2015-17 – Mrs. Ruest presented the Operating and Capital Plan for 2016-17. She noted that the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) applied a re-indexing clawback to all homes of 0.9639, resulting in a decrease of approximately $120,000 to our Long-Term Care (LTC) funding. Due to this change, the LTC Budget and the Capital Budget for the Centre were deferred.
Mrs. Ruest reviewed the Complex Continuing Care (CCC) Budget in detail and noted that the inpatient cost per day continues to be very low. The Board of Directors recommended to the Members of the Corporation approval of the CCC Operating Budget for 2016-17 of $9,278,037 with a surplus of $57,110.
Hospital Annual Planning Submission (HAPS) for 2016-17 – This document is the detailed operating plan in prescribed MOHLTC format that will inform the Hospital Service Accountability Agreement (HSAA). The submission agrees with the 2016-17 Hotel Dieu Hospital (Complex Continuing Care) Operating Budget. The Board of Directors approved the HAPS for 2016-17 as presented.
Request for Proposal (RFP) for Audit Services – This current year is the final year of a five-year contract with KPMG for Audit Services. The Committee agreed that the evaluation team for the RFP would include all members of the Audit Committee, and also agreed that the term for the provision of audit services would be three years.
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES – The Centre’s Education Calendar for February 2016 and Governance Educational Opportunities were circulated to the Board of Directors for information.
The next regular Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, 01 March 2016 at noon in the Boardroom.