Our patients can continue to depend on us

Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) today provided a comprehensive presentation to local media representatives, outlining strengthened accounting controls implemented throughout the organization, ongoing successes in patient care, and insights into our future as a regional hospital serving our patients and their families.

The presentation, given by Dr. Peter McLaughlin, Interim CEO and Alan Wotherspoon, Board Chair, highlighted key updates related to strengthened accounting controls implemented as a result of the hospital’s recent financial reviews.

The reviews have been conducted in collaboration with various external partners, and we are satisfied that no personal gain was involved in the accounting errors identified and corrected in the hospital’s financial restatements for the period ended March 31, 2014. The hospital’s Board of Directors takes its fiduciary accountabilities seriously, and is providing oversight to strengthen governance and processes.

Dr. McLaughlin and Mr. Wotherspoon noted during their presentation that the hospital’s current surplus is earmarked to partially fund the implementation of the paperless patient record, a $53 million commitment the hospital made to its patients in 2013.

The hospital also announced that following a Request for Proposal (RFP) process, Deloitte has been selected as the successful candidate to provide auditing services to the hospital for 2014/15. Deloitte has a significant track record of working with large community hospitals similar to the Health Centre.

Media were provided with an information package, which included an open letter to the community in response to correspondence recently published by the Peterborough Health Coalition. Also included were a detailed report on the accounting errors and measures taken to strengthen controls moving forward, as well as a copy of the presentation slides. Our hospital leaders engaged with media in a round table format followed by a question and answer period, in order to clarify some misconceptions around the hospital’s financial restatements.

The complete information package is available to the public at www.prhc.on.ca.