Annual Report - Northern Health

Chair’s ReportAs I reflect upon my first year in the role of Board Chair, I havebeen hugely impressed at the extent of Northern Health’sachievements during these challenging times, and I’m verypleased to report that we have delivered in abundance on thepriorities and goals outlined in the 2009-2012 Strategic Plan,as will be evident in the pages of this Annual Report.I attribute much of our success as an organisation to thepassion, commitment and skill of our staff whose dedicationto building a healthier northern community is beyond question.As we turn our sights to the development of a new StrategicPlan that will steer our course from 2012-2017, we recognisethat as a health service we will be passing through a period ofgreat transition. Our future will be built upon our long and proudhistory as a great local health service, loved and supported bythe community. The innovation, leadership and pioneering spiritdemonstrated for generations by our ‘parent’ services suchas Broadmeadows Health Service, Bundoora Extended CareCentre, Craigieburn Health Service and Panch Health Service, isexceedingly alive and well within Northern Health today.This spirit of innovation is critical to our success in the yearsahead as the demands of our burgeoning community continueto grow. Our transition to a major university teaching andresearch-based health service is both an exciting and boldchallenge.The need for this change is very real. The huge growth inthe north has engendered the birth of new suburbs bringingthousands of residents and families to our region. Our challengeis not only to keep pace with the demand for health services butalso to anticipate the specific needs of our community in theyears ahead. With population-based projections showing ourhealth services will need to span all age spectrums from birthto aged care, Northern Health’s services must advance, withoutdelay, on all fronts.Our ability to meet these challenges will be determined in nosmall part by the strength of our partnerships. Our relationshipswith Melbourne’s great centres of learning such as La TrobeUniversity and the University of Melbourne are pivotal to oursuccess in the next five years for a variety of reasons, foremostamongst them:1. Our ability to recruit, train and retain our own workforce forthe future: a workforce that is trained in the north and staysin the north;2. Our commitment to best practice, innovation and qualityimprovement that is supported by the growing body ofevidence which indicates a higher quality of care is availableat university teaching hospitals; and3. The pressing need for Northern Health to become agenerator of new knowledge. We cannot afford to becontent as a passive receiver or translator of knowledge– our patients and the northern community demand anddeserve the benefits from tailored research programs.To date, our partnerships have set us in good stead, with ourworld-class Teaching Training and Research Precinct soonto become the physical expression of our commitment toknowledge exchange and generation. With construction set tobe completed in 2013-14, Northern Health is poised to generateknowledge that will bring significant benefits not only to ourpatients, but also at state, the nation and international levels.As we embark on this accelerated period of growth, weacknowledge that much of our infrastructure will requiresignificant upgrades. Many of Northern Health’s buildings andfacilities are now at a point where incremental change will nolonger suffice. The many years of adding minor improvementsto existing structures will not sustain our need for expansion.We know that major redevelopments, particularly of theNorthern Hospital site at Cooper Street, will become anoperational necessity.Similarly, we need to be future-focussed in terms of models ofcare. A strong push is already underway across the country forinnovative new models of care that favour community-basedpathways and are less reliant upon traditional bed-basedsystems. Northern Health’s growth makes us particularlywell placed to be at the forefront of the development of newmodels that enable this fundamental change. Here again, ourrelationships with community organisations, local GPs, NorthernMedicare Local and other service providers will be critical to ourability to meet the future health care needs of our community.In closing, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to the talentedNorthern Health leadership team, including Greg Pullen for hisexceptional achievements as CEO. Thank you also to my fellowDirectors for their commitment and support –particularly retiringBoard member Sue Renkin for her valuable service; and a warmwelcome to Rima Newman who has recently joined the Board.I would also like to thank our outstanding staff whose ‘can do’attitude and tireless efforts are the foundation of our successas a health service. It is with a great sense of excitement thatwe begin our transition towards our future as one of Victoria’slargest and most dynamic health services.Finally, in keeping with the provisions of the FinancialManagement Act 1994, I am pleased to present the Report ofOperations for Northern Health.Professor Glenn BowesChairNorthern Health Board2 annual report Northern Health 11/12