Aug. 28, 2006

Joint News Release
Rouge Valley Health System and Lakeridge Health

Rouge Valley Health System and Lakeridge Health are working toward improved standardization of infection prevention and control with the appointment of a joint general manager, marking the latest in a series of efficient shared appointments.

Tricia Root, formerly Rouge Valley's manager of Infection Prevention and Control, has accepted the position of interim Joint General Manager of Infection Prevention and Control for both hospital systems - a total of five hospitals and related sites in Durham and Scarborough.

"This new position will bring our facilities closer together and help align our procedures and policies to offer consistent quality care to patients at both Rouge Valley and Lakeridge Health," says Root, who started her healthcare career as a nurse in Vietnam and later as an Ontario critical care nurse in the 1970s.

Root's extensive career has included management of many hospital infections including Rouge Valley's treatment of legionella patients from a nearby nursing home last year and the SARS outbreak of 2003. She is also certified with the Certification Board of Infection Control and Epidemiology, a qualification recognized in Canada and the United States.

Much of her initial efforts in the new position will be aimed at integrating the many procedures and policies followed by nurses and other healthcare professionals at Lakeridge Health's many sites and Rouge Valley's two hospital sites, in an area stretching from Oshawa to east Toronto. Root will also lead infection control teams, oversee quality management issues and manage a staff of 12, dividing her time equally between the two systems. "It's a big job. But I really look forward to the challenge and working with healthcare professionals in both systems," she says. "When it comes to infection control and prevention, we should all be doing the same thing. The cross appointment allows us a greater opportunity to learn from each other."

Sonia Peczeniuk, Vice-President of Medical Affairs and Clinical Support Services at Rouge Valley, and Helen Gibson, Corporate Director of Infection Control at Lakeridge Health, welcome Root's appointment, effective in early September. "Tricia Root brings a wealth of experience and management savvy to this important new role, as we forge greater synergies between our two quality hospital systems," says Peczeniuk.

- Part of a strategy -

This latest cross-appointment is part of a larger strategy to improve efficiency while investing the savings into front-line patient care and related services. Beginning with the appointment of joint vice-presidents in December 2004, Lakeridge Health and Rouge Valley now have 14 cross-appointed staff in human resources, finance, information technology and clinical support services.

"We began this process with two cross-appointments at our most senior levels of management as a trial for our organizations," says Hume Martin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rouge Valley Health System. "We're very pleased with the benefits we've achieved since starting on this path. It's a testament to the abilities and the quality of our joint staff and the people who support them," Martin adds.

"It takes very talented professionals at all levels to care for our patients and manage multi-site hospital systems like ours," says Brian Lemon, Chief Executive Officer of Lakeridge Health. Lemon adds, "These cross-appointments have helped us learn from the best that each hospital has to offer while allowing us to save money and invest it into front-line and staff support services."

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Rouge Valley Health System is an innovative leader in quality family centred care, with regional programs in cardiac care, mental health and paediatrics. Rouge Valley consists of several health sites, including two hospitals: Rouge Valley Centenary, in east Scarborough; Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering, in the west Durham Region. Together a team of more than 300 doctors, plus 180 specialist physicians, 1,200 registered nurses and many other professionals, care for a broad spectrum of health conditions. In consultation and partnership with community members, other hospitals, healthcare organizations and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Rouge Valley continues to improve its programs and create new ones catering to the needs of the growing communities of Scarborough, Ajax, Pickering and Whitby. It's in our nature to care. www.rougevalley.ca.

The Lakeridge Health (LH) network, with three hospital sites (Bowmanville, Oshawa, Port Perry), three specialty sites (Pinewood, LH Whitby and RS McLaughlin Durham Regional Cancer Centre) and several satellite locations to better serve the residents of Durham and area, is one of the largest community hospitals in Ontario. The network offers a broad range of emergency, inpatient and outpatient services as well as specialty care such as dialysis, addictions treatment, rehabilitation, eye surgery and cancer care. The over 3,000 caring, dedicated healthcare professionals and support staff at Lakeridge Health, strengthened by its Foundations and many wonderful volunteers, use their "Better Together" approach to provide excellence in patient care and service. For more information on the Lakeridge Health network, please visit our website at www.lakeridgehealth.on.ca.

For more information please contact:

David Brazeau
Public Affairs and Community Relations
Rouge Valley Health System
1-800-667-4028 ext. 4010
647-294-8885
dbrazeau@rougevalley.ca
www.rougevalley.ca

or

Elise Ethier
Communications and Community Relations
Lakeridge Health
905-576-8711 ext. 4317
eethier@lakeridgehealth.on.ca
www.lakeridgehealth.on.ca