The new figurehead at Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS), Jack Hutchison, said he intends to lean on the community to help identify pressing needs and future enhancements to local health care.
He started with the organization as president and CEO March 30. The past month has been spent getting up to speed with HHHS operations and refamiliarizing himself with a community he loves. Hutchison was raised in Minden and graduated from Hal High.
“This is very much a homecoming. My mom grew up here, our family moved to Minden when I was six, so this is where most of my earliest childhood memories were made,” Hutchison said. “I didn’t know when we’d be back, but we knew we wanted to return home someday.”
His wife also grew up in Haliburton County. In 2019, despite working in Ontario’s far north on the shores of James Bay, the couple bought a cottage in the area and have been returning for visits ever since. They were here last fall on vacation when Hutchison saw the posting for his new job.
Hutchison returns to the Highlands with more than a decade’s experience in the health-care sector. He first joined the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) in 2014 as a human resources staffer, moving up the ranks to HR manager and vice president of HR and organizational development before landing the vice president of people, performance and clinical support role.
In 2022, he spent nine months with Headwaters Health Care Centre in Orangeville as its vice president of people and culture but returned to WAHA as its chief operating officer in January 2023.
Over the past three years he’s had to navigate complex logistical challenges – of the six communities he was responsible for, four of them were fly-in only. One of those was located about 400 kilometres away from the WAHA main office.
“It taught me how important it is to be adaptable, to think on your feet and be innovative when you work in rural health care. One of the biggest pieces for me was ensuring that, no matter where someone is, that access to quality health care is the same for everyone. That’s something I’ll strive to maintain every day at HHHS,” Hutchison said.
Doing more
With the Haliburton site seeing major investment over the past couple of years, after the addition of CT and mammography and expansion of X-ray services, Hutchison said he doesn’t have a specific focus regarding new services just yet.
HHHS is still awaiting a decision from the province on plans to consolidate long-term care services in Minden, with an application to add 98 beds to Hyland Crest still pending. If approved, that would allow HHHS to repurpose Highland Wood long-term care in Haliburton.
“That area would be expanded for more acute care services for the County. We hope to add more beds… investigate what specialty services we could bring in on different days,” Hutchison said.
Haliburton County is one of the poorest regions in Ontario and Hutchison said he also wanted to boost HHHS’ social programs.
“We’re a big geography, which provides challenges to some people. We work closely with our foundation to make sure people are fed, we have folks getting 12 free meals per month funded through HHHSF. We have patient transport so people can get from their home to appointments and group sessions. We have a big impact in the community that way and it’s something I’d like to do more of.”
Hutchison said there are plans for community town halls later this year to provide updates on HHHS’ master planning process and to hear concerns from the public. He confirmed HHHS will have its annual general meeting in Minden June 25.
“I think anything we do [in terms of future improvements] has to be thoughtful and purposeful, really driven by the community and ensuring they meet the needs of our patients,” he said.
