Virtual Annual Meeting concludes hospital’s 2019/20 fiscal year
Pam Went elected for second consecutive year as Board Chair
The Northumberland Hills Hospital (NHH) Board of Directors hosted its Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 18th.
For the first time in hospital history the Annual Meeting, chaired by Pam Went, NHH Board Chair, was conducted virtually, in light of the pandemic restrictions on in-person gatherings.
Opening remarks commenced with a formal territorial acknowledgement, delivered by Hospital President and CEO Linda Davis. Pam Went called the meeting to order pursuant to the By-Laws, welcoming Board Directors and Community Committee members, hospital senior staff, as well as Lori Huber, the representative from NHH auditor KPMG. As the first item of business, the minutes of the June 2020 Annual Meeting were approved as presented.
Tom McLean, Chair of the Board’s Finance and Audit Committee, presented the NHH Financial Statements for the year ended March 31st, 2020, referencing in the course of his remarks the detailed financial statements available as of June 11th, per public notice, on the hospital website.
“NHH finished the year in a positive position with a net surplus of $1.7 million, 2.2 per cent of total revenues, due in part to cost savings initiatives and base and one-time funding adjustments from the Ministry of Health,” McLean noted. “Looking forward to the significant future investment required to support NHH’s share of the regional procurement of a Clinical Information System (CIS), the Board granted approval to set aside $1 million from the surplus for this high priority investment.” This will be added to the funds ($500,000) set aside for the CIS in 2018/19.
“There are uncertainties going into fiscal year 2020/21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation,” said McLean. “NHH will continue to work cooperatively with its partners within the community and the Ministry in an ongoing effort to achieve long-term financial sustainability while also maintaining, or enhancing, vital patient care services for the benefit of the community that we are honoured to serve.”
KPMG’s Lori Huber presented a positive Auditors’ Report. The audited financial statements were accepted as presented and auditors KPMG LLP were appointed again as auditors for fiscal year 2020/21—year five of a five-year engagement.
The next item of business was the consideration of amendments to the NHH By-Laws. Lynda Kay, Chair of the Board’s Governance Committee, summarized the proposed amendments.
“By-Laws are reviewed on a regular basis,” Kay noted, “to ensure we are meeting current governance best practices and our local requirements as a hospital. A draft version of the proposed revisions had been distributed to members in the pre-meeting package. At meetings held earlier in the year, the members of the Governance Committee reviewed and approved the proposed By-Law amendments. Without exception, this year’s amendments are of the housekeeping variety,” noted Kay. They were accepted as presented and are available for the public under the Accountability tab of the hospital website, nhh.ca.
The Board Chair’s report followed the approval of the amended By-Laws. Pam Went referred attendees to her written message, available in a special abbreviated edition of NHH’s Annual Report published today in electronic form, on nhh.ca.
In addition to her written remarks, Went recognized the contribution of the NHH Foundation over the past year. “Our hospital receives exceptional support from its community through the Foundation’s efforts and creativity,” she noted. “I want to take this opportunity to directly thank Tyler Hathway, past President of the NHH Foundation, for his many, many hours of volunteer effort on behalf of the NHH Foundation and the Hospital. Tyler joined our Board in June 2017 and has, like the Foundation chairs who preceded him, taken a very active and engaged role in the capital needs of this hospital. All told, in the past year alone, the NHH Foundation raised $3.6 million to go toward the purchase of capital equipment priorities and related supports. I understand the dollars raised for NHH from the NHH Foundation since this hospital opened in 2003 now total just over $57 million. Without a doubt -- a wonderful achievement.”