I am honoured to address you for the first time as Board Chair of the Sudbury Regional Hospital. Thank you for this opportunity to briefly share with you my vision for the coming years as we move forward with a new hospital, and new beginnings.

I am fortunate to have served with excellent Board Chairs and Directors, from whom I have learned a great deal. The greatest lesson that has been handed down is a mantra I have heard repeated time and again – our most valuable resource are the people that make up this institution. Of course, I am referring to our staff, physicians, management, and volunteers who ensure our hospital provides the very best in patient care. They are among the finest in our country, and we would not be where we are today without their dedication, talent and hard work.

I wish to acknowledge my friend and colleague Carol Hartman, as well as the Board Chairs that came before her. Thank you for setting the bar so high. You have provided leadership and mentorship, and you have paved the way toward a brighter future.

We stand at a crossroad in our organization’s relatively brief history. There is great opportunity before us, and in Dr. Denis Roy, our President and CEO, we have a visionary leader that I am confident will take us down the right path. I am eager to work with Dr. Roy and the hospital’s senior management team in executing the vision that he so eloquently described this evening.

It is true, however, that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Along with the success of opening our new hospital, our organization has been presented with the significant challenge of how to manage the alternate level of care (ALC) needs of an aging population in a hospital that was designed to hold no ALC patients. As Board Chair, I pledge to continue to work closely with our partners in finding solutions to our community’s bed capacity issues, and as a Board, we will continue to advocate at every turn for solutions to this issue.

I know I am not alone in undertaking this commitment. Having had the pleasure of serving as a Director since 2004, I have been continually impressed by the senior leadership of this hospital. Having worked closely with this group for six years, and having been part of the committee that was struck to choose a new CEO for our hospital, I am confident in the leadership of this institution in dealing with any future challenges.

Along with my Board colleagues, who have all earned my respect and gratitude, I look forward to the coming years as we assume our role as an academic health sciences network and grow our research and outpatient care capabilities. 

Like many of us, my experiences on this Board have been forged in fire – literally – and shaped by great challenges. Our hospital has surmounted many obstacles and undergone great change in a short period of time. Through adversity comes growth. We have learned to be adaptable and tough, but we have also learned that we can count on our partners in times of need.
I will carry this collaborative outlook forward. Coupled with my decade of senior leadership experience with RBC Royal Bank and my current position as Vice-President of a regional service, as well as my years of governance experience with several local boards, including the Sudbury Food Bank, I believe I am well-prepared for the tasks that lay ahead.

The highest quality patient care is our utmost priority. I have had direct experience with the incredible dedication, passion and commitment our staff, physicians and volunteers feel toward our patients. These people helped build this organization and remain the foundation upon which it rests, and they inspire me to rise to the example they set everyday. 

With a new hospital and new equipment, we now have tools at our disposal that are second to none. We will continue to work diligently to ensure access to timely care for our northern residents. Our collaborative approach with the LHIN will continue as we seek to ensure that our hospital and community are resourced properly to allow us to focus on our mission of addressing the acute care needs of our patients, and also to innovate and move our institution into the future.

We will foster and maintain strong local and regional partnerships as we grow into a full academic health sciences network, which in turn will add further value to the patient care we provide, and ensure a health care system that is inclusive of and meets the needs of all members of our community.

I have great confidence heading into this role. This confidence is bred from my awareness of the support that exists, and the talent and dedication of those around me. Tonight we stand on the shoulders of giants and reap the rewards of the diligent efforts of many who have come before us. I am committed to building upon this tradition of excellence and success.

Tony Corallo
Chair, HRSRH Board of Directors