Niagara, ON: The Board of Trustees of the Niagara Health System (NHS) is taking the first step to renew relations with the Medical Staff following a vote of non-confidence last week.
"We want to express our endorsement of the hospital's leadership. Knowing that it would be a tough job to do, our Board asked the hospital leadership to put forward a clinical services plan that ensures high quality service for the Niagara community while making the best use of available resources. We believe they have done that and we commend them for their work in developing the vision contained in the Hospital Improvement Plan which has essentially been endorsed by Dr. Jack Kitts, the External Advisor to the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant (HNHB) Local Health Integration Network (LHIN)," said Mrs. Betty-Lou Souter, Chair of the NHS Board of Trustees.
"We are very serious about our commitment to rebuild relations with our doctors. Our Board has already had discussions with Dr. Ken Reddy, President of the Medical Staff Association, to begin to move forward to develop a process to identify and address concerns of the medical staff. This may require the use of an external facilitator or mediator.
Mrs. Souter adds that the process will be developed jointly between the NHS Board, the NHS leadership and Dr. Reddy as President of the Medical Staff Association and will be completed within the week.
"Going into the HIP, we knew this was going to be a difficult time. We knew there would be differing views and division. Dr. Kitts said very clearly that he recommends that all citizens of Niagara rally behind the HIP vision which will ultimately better serve all the residents of Niagara. We're prepared to work through what we need to do in the best interests of the patients we serve," said Mrs. Souter.
