THUNDER BAY — The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre is celebrating a successful third year of its five-year strategic plan.
Hospital administration shared a progress report with stakeholders and community partners on Thursday afternoon, showcasing the hospital's and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute's achievements in advancing care, health research, and innovation in the region.
“We like to report back to the community to inform them as to what we've accomplished as part of our strategic plan, as well as how we're moving towards the patient experience,” Jennifer Wintermans, vice president of clinical services quality, told Newswatch in an interview.
The hospital's strategic plan focuses on five strategic pillars: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Patient Experience; Staff Experience; Research, Innovation and Learning; and Sustainable Future.
Wintermans said these inform the hospital’s vision, which is “exceptional care for every patient, every time.”
“There are many initiatives that we are working on, and they're happening all in parallel and they're moving us towards our vision.”
She said the hospital launched all 26 initiatives across all five of the strategic pillars.
So far, they have completed seven.
“We've made a lot of progress with our equity diversity inclusion portfolio. A lot of the activities that have really been supporting that area of our hospital to make sure that we can have a more inclusive environment where we all belong. That includes not just patients and families but also our staff. So, there's a lot more work that would be done on that as well,” Wintermans said.
The vice president anticipates that the work and other outlined initiatives will be completed within their strategic plans by the end of 2026.
Wintermans said the hospital has pushed the boundary in key incentives, such as an anti-stigma campaign. The campaign provides staff with equity, diversity and inclusion training and implements principles from the hospital's Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action report.
Repairing the Sacred Circle, an indigenous cultural awareness and education primer, was developed and launched by N’doo’owe Binesi in 2022 with the support and guidance of the Ogichidaa Onaakonigewin – Elders Council.
Jessica Logozzo, executive vice president of regional transformation, said in a presentation on equity, diversity and inclusion, that 400 leadership staff have participated in this cultural training.
“It's training that's specific to our region, which is unique and the context that we work with. It provides information on the key foundational concepts that have influenced the historical and current treatment of indigenous peoples in healthcare,” Logozzo said.
“We've received very positive feedback on the sessions to date, as it is providing a reflective path for cross-cultural discussion and a starting point to create the necessary change for awareness and inclusiveness within our hospital and research institute.”
Wintermans also said the hospital is challenged by recruitment and retention.
She said those challenges are not “across the board” but broader issues of health human resources “in the city.”
“To have health human resources in our city and to make sure that we're able to attract physicians and allied health care workers. We have lots of nurses, and we do have a school, a couple of schools, that have nursing programs, so that helps. But there are a lot of health care professional programs that are not here in Thunder Bay. So, we need to look at how we can recruit people to Thunder Bay as well as the Northwest region,” Wintermans said.
She noted that recruitment and retention issues in Thunder Bay are not unique to the hospital, “We really need to work together to see how we can attract people to our city and to our region so that we can support the different sectors.
It's not just health care, but there are a lot of sectors in our area that are requiring good people to be here.”
