2018 Board Award of Excellence Recipients Honoured

The recipients of the 11th annual Board Award of Excellence were announced at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s (MAHC) Annual General Meeting on Monday, June 25th in Huntsville.

This year, 11 individuals and two patient care units were nominated by their hospital peers. The award is presented to recipients who exemplify MAHC’s values of Accountability, Respect, Optimism, Leadership and Engagement, and recognizes staff and physicians who have made significant achievements in patient- and family-centered care, outstanding management of people, financial or material resources, successfully completed a major project or special assignment beyond what is normally expected, and/or an extraordinary commitment to patient safety.

The winners of the 2018 Board Award of Excellence are:

Tanya Ball, Ward Clerk

Dr. Keith Cross, Family Physician

Anne Murdy, Dietary Aide (absent from photo)

Pauline Pearsall, Senior Lab Technologist

“Each year we have the honour of recognizing the outstanding performance and achievements of staff and physicians through the Board Award of Excellence,” says incoming Board Chair Phil Matthews. “On behalf of the entire Board, I’m pleased to congratulate the recipients and recognize all those who were nominated.”

The nominees further included:

Lisa Boyes, Registered Nurse, Emergency Dept.

Stacey Carswell, Physiotherapy Assistant/Occupational Therapy Assistant

Critical Care Unit, SMMH Site

Dialysis Unit, HDMH Site

Donna Crump, Registered Nurse, District Stroke

Harold Featherston, Chief Executive, Diagnostics, Ambulatory & Planning

Mark Janke, Maintenance

Don Muller, Physiotherapist

Shannon Zedic, Clerical Support, Seniors Assessment & Support Outreach Team

Monday’s AGM also featured a staff presentation about MAHC’s new incident management system, and a surgeon’s presentation on a research study focused on enhanced recovery after surgery that seeks to reduce potential complications from colorectal surgery.

During the AGM, MAHC said farewell to Evelyn Brown following the end of her two-year term as Chair and an eight-year commitment to serve as a volunteer Board member. As well, Peter Deane was elected as a Board Director, and three Directors’ terms were renewed. Mr. Deane is a retired senior health services planning executive and health services planning consultant who brings decades of experience to 12 elected members of the Board. Further, with the 2018-19 elections within the Professional Staff Association, Professional Staff Vice President Dr. Pierre Mikhail is welcomed to the Board, joining Professional Staff President Dr. Anthony Shearing as an ex-officio member.

The following community members were also appointed to standing committees of the Board:

Irene Dines – Quality & Patient Safety Committee

Scott Mullen – Governance Committee

David Sprague – Resources Committee

Mark Naylor – elected to a second term on Strategic Planning Committee

“On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to welcome all the new members to their respective volunteer roles,” says Matthews. “Each brings a variety of skills and knowledge and I am looking forward to working with them.”

The Board of Directors is a volunteer body that plays a key leadership role in setting policies and visioning for MAHC, and ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality health care in the communities that we serve.