Leadership Team Pens Letter to Our Communities

An open letter to our communities:

Over the past number of weeks, the leadership team of Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare has watched as our Chief Executive Officer has been referred to in a negative light, her reputation unfairly tarnished. We, the leadership, want you to know the Natalie we know.

Natalie began her hospital career as a front-line Registered Nurse. She cared for patients receiving chemotherapy treatment just as many of our nurses do today.  She worked long days and nights, just as many of our nurses do today.  She exhibited a kindness and true caring attitude, just as many of our nurses do today.  These attributes have transcended her 41-year health-care career; a career that progressed to leadership, from roles like clinical nurse specialist to Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive roles and for the past eight years as MAHC’s CEO.

Every day we bear witness to her steadfast leadership, the long and tireless hours spent advocating for safe, quality care in Muskoka, and enduring compassion for the patients and staff of MAHC. Natalie is the type of leader who fetches a warm blanket for patients when she has seen that they are cold. She is the type of leader who has gotten out of bed in the late evening hours to come to our hospital to help the staff during a time of need.

Natalie is a mentor to many of us. She coaches us through challenging situations, encourages us to live and breathe our organizational values of accountability, respect, optimism, leadership and engagement. She supports us in developing and implementing programs that enhance the patient experience, from expanding services through the addition of ear, nose and throat and gynecological surgeries to creating a comfort fund for patients in need, to developing community partnerships that have enabled locally-grown produce to be used in patient meals. These are just a few examples of the many improvements to health care in Muskoka from Natalie’s leadership. 

Natalie lives in this community, owns a home here, takes her dog to the local vet, gets her hair cut in town, and does her grocery shopping in the same stores as every other Muskoka resident. Natalie is part of the Muskoka community. She takes her responsibility to serve the community and patients seriously. She cares about the residents of our community. She works within the mandate of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, manages significant financial deficits and handles daily operational issues, all while ensuring our communities are provided with the outstanding care they need and deserve today and into the future. 

To those in our community who have made negative remarks about our CEO in social media or otherwise without knowing her, your words could not be further from the truth. We hope we have shared just a little insight into her positive influence and impact on local health care. This is our Natalie: nurse, mentor, coach, leader. We stand firmly behind and beside her. 

Yours in health,

Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare Leadership Team: