Haliburton hospital president and CEO, Veronica Nelson, is pleased with the direction HHHS is headed, with 2024 marking a period of stability following years of uncertainty through the COVID19 pandemic.
After reporting a $2.3 million deficit at the end of the fiscal year in March 2024, Nelson said the hospital’s financial position has improved “markedly” since. At the end of the second quarter Sept. 30, the deficit was $700,000.
Nelson will be providing results from Q3 to the board Feb. 27. While she couldn’t provide a number as of press time, she said, “we are in a much better position. We have received some one-time funding to help offset some pressures.”
A big reason for that, Nelson said, is the muchreduced use of agency staff. As of the end of Q3 on Dec. 31, 1.82 per cent of all HHHS workers were agency staff, compared to 11.5 per cent at peak use in June 2023.
A report by Ontario’s auditor general in 2023 noted the average pay for registered nurses was $40.15 per hour, while the average hourly agency rate was $97.33. Nelson confirmed most of the agency staff HHHS utilized were nurses.
Recruitment has been a major focus, with the organization bringing in an additional 142 part-time and full-time staff since June 1, 2023 – the date of the Minden ER closure. Nelson said there have been 32 nurses, 22 PSWs, 10 allied health workers, and 67 other team members hired.
“We’ve made significant inroads, but still have about 18 to 20 vacancies,” she said, noting the hospital is working with Haliburton Highlands Secondary School, Trent, Nipissing and Brock universities, and Loyalist and Fleming colleges on training programs for nurses and PSWs.
The hospital has also hired two new full-time and one part-time doctor at its emergency department, with a third full-time hire arriving in July.
“The contract is signed – we’re really excited about him… and we’ve got another one on deck who wants to be here full-time as well,” Nelson said. “Those two additions would fill our emergency department complement of positions… I don’t know when that last happened.”
Patient volumes have increased since the Minden ER closure, but Nelson said wait times for an initial physician assessment have been stable at two-and-a-half hours from March 31 to Dec. 31. For that same period, there has been 5,415 visits to the urgent care clinic in Minden, up from 4,479 from when the clinic opened June 29, 2023 to the end of the previous fiscal year.
Since launching CT services last spring, the hospital has scanned more than 2,200 patients, with 43 per cent of those emergency procedures, Nelson said.
“Given the nearest CT is in Lindsay, having this machine saved 183,000 kilometres of driving for patients, families and EMS. This has been an amazing addition.”
With mammography services beginning last week, Nelson said the next focus is installing a new x-ray in the ER. There will also be construction for a new mental health crisis room, which Nelson said will “offer a safe place for patients and staff to work while in crisis.”
