MARATHON — A recent announcement is opening the door for citizens of Marathon or residents of nearby communities to take an active role in local healthcare.
The North of Superior Healthcare Group (NOSH) announced that there is an opening in their board of directors for anyone in the Marathon catchment area (inclusive of Marathon, Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg First Nation, and Biigtigong Nishnaabeg First Nation).
The announcement was first made on Oct. 27 on NOSH’s website and shared across social media channels.
NOSH’s chief executive officer Adam Brown said that there are 10 board seats in total — five in the Marathon catchment area and five in the Terrace Bay catchment.
Both catchment areas are responsible for their own recruitment and retention, he said, with support from administration.
Brown went onto to point out that even though these are unpaid, volunteer positions, chosen candidates still have a large role to play in supporting operations.
“We put a lots of responsibility on these folks to make sure our operations have a good strategic vision and strategic plan,” Brown said, “and enacting that strategic plan, providing sustainable quality service to our catchment area.”
So, what does it take to be a prime candidate for the board of directors North of Superior?
Brown said that the number one skill they’re looking for is “effort” and someone who “cares about the community.”
“Particularly, we have what is called a skills and perspectives matrix for our board where we try to figure out what kind of skills and perspectives would round-out the board to make sure we’re hearing from accountants, for example, or Indigenous folks, or women, architects,” Brown said. “There’s a… lot of skills that become valuable to a public hospital board.”
One aspect that makes this call for applications stand-out, however, is timing that coincides with development of the new long-term care facility to be built next to Wilson Memorial General Hospital in Marathon.
“In this case, one of the particular skills we’re looking for is somebody with some project experience,” Brown said. “Infrastructure type experience.”
With the scale of the project, Brown noted that it’s a “big deal” for a smaller organization like NOSH.
“Having somebody with some expertise on our board to make sure that… good questions are asked and good guidance is provided will be valuable to us,” Brown said.
Along with finding the right person to provide insight on the new long-term care facility, Brown expressed his excitement about how the project will address an ever-growing need in the region.
“We do house a lot of folks in the hospital setting itself in the acute ward,” Brown said. “We call those patients alternate level of care… [which] means they’re in a bed that’s not meeting their needs. If you’re in the hospital acute ward, you don’t have the same opportunity for socialization, recreation, being around your peers, and having family visit in a communal setting. So we’d like to make sure those folks get into an appropriate setting, for sure.”
And, speaking of the hospital, Brown provided Dougall Media with a brief update on how NOSH is addressing Covid / influenza season head-on and adapting provincial policies to better fit their local framework.
“We rely on our expert partners at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, for example, for good advice and our various ministries — the Ministry of Long-Term Care and the Ministry of Health,” Brown said. “In our particular situation with NOSH, we operate a long-term care home already in Terrace Bay and the Ministry of Long-Term Care mandated masks [to be worn again] in long-term care facilities. Given the integrated nature of our operations, we’ve taken that mandate and expanded it to our hospital facilities as well.”
Although masks are back on, Brown did say that there are some exceptions — such as family members meeting in private rooms.
“[But] in the public areas, in the care areas, we’re asking that you mask-up if you’re able,” Brown said.
He made mention of the fact that many hospital and long-term care staff members have been hit with COVID and the flu over the past few months.
The masks are necessary to protect everyone involved in the healthcare process.
“We continue to test [staff] on a routine basis,” Brown said. “The general public might not realize the scale of COVID in the communities but it’s everywhere.”
Brown was optimistic about the state of things in the region though.
“Fortunately, COVID is not what it was in 2020,” Brown said. “It’s not unknown, it’s not as scary, and it does not appear to be as severe as it once was but, depending on your health status, COVID and the flu can be serious illnesses.”
He said to keep an eye on social media for family health teams across the region for further updates regarding when and where vaccine clinics are popping up.
Finally, those interested in applying to NOSH’s board of directors are encouraged to head to www.nosh.ca/board-recruitment and fill out an application.