Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance CEO Updates Board On Goals For The Coming Year

by Bob Montgomery

Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance CEO, Andrew Williams, presented the board with some of their goals for next year at their last meeting.

Williams says they refer to those objectives as their Commitment to their Communities, and there's a significant emphasis on System Planning and working with their partners to make sure that, as much as they can control and influence, they're ensuring good coordination of services, that they're complementing each other rather than competing, that they have the right players around the table that look at that continuum of care. Williams explains everyone needs care from different providers at different times so they have to make sure that that care is being delivered in a coordinated way.

Williams says it's difficult to say what impact tariffs might have on healthcare in the future. But he says they're a member of a variety of buying groups and it's possible the tariffs could encourage the purchase of more Canadian products. On the other hand they're also concerned about what impact tariffs could have on our local economy and the people who live in Huron or Perth over the long term.

Williams says he believes the recruitment challenges they're dealing with now are not quite as severe as they were a few years ago, but recruitment is still a challenge. He says some of the programs the province has put in place to support new recruits have helped. They've seen an increase in their ability to recruit and retain people and that's been very positive, but it’s still an area of very significant focus for them. And, he points out the shortage isn't limited to nurses, but is across the entire profession and flares up in different areas at different times and there is still a significant shortage of certain physicians and lab technologists.

Williams adds, the fact that people are living longer is very good news, but it does also put more pressure on our healthcare system because as we get older we tend to need a little bit more care, so as time goes on, there will be an increased need for the people who deliver that care.