Looking Back Fondly on a Decade with MAHC

After over a decade at Muskoka’s hospitals, I am writing my final blog as President & CEO at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare before I retire on December 23, 2021. Taking the pen this last time before it is turned to a new writer is bittersweet to say the least. I look back fondly on so many special and meaningful moments, great advances in local health care, and a rewarding career that has been bolstered by the many people who work so hard to ensure we are providing the best patient care.

It has been my distinct privilege to work with so many intelligent, capable, caring and compassionate people who give their all every day to provide outstanding care for their communities. From the front line to the back office, physician colleagues to community partners, health care in a community takes a team – many players working together from many departments and many agencies. Hospital leadership is a tough job no doubt, but it is also so rewarding when you have been as blessed as I have to have led a great team.

During my tenure I have been fortunate to work with six Board Chairs who believed in me and supported me over the years, and countless Directors who volunteered their time and energy to work through both the good times and the more difficult times of financial challenges and future planning.

I am so proud to have championed a strong and effective management team that puts patient- and family-centred care at the forefront of everything they do. Our hospitals have truly evolved as a result of their efforts and leadership.

I am humbled to witness our hospitals benefit from the great work of two hospital foundations and two auxiliaries that have made our organization better through new equipment and technological advances, educational opportunities for staff, and dedicated volunteering.

I am grateful for the hundreds of MAHC staff and credentialed staff who work exceptionally hard and do what they do every day because they believe in what they do and how they can help others. I have always believed in you and I’m so proud of the team you are.

I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge my family’s support for the opportunity to spread my wings over Muskoka for the past 11 years and the sacrifices they made while encouraging me along.

What makes it hardest to leave is the people you leave behind.

I always wanted to work in an organization that achieved exemplary status from Accreditation Canada and now I can say that I have. There are more clinical services available to serve our communities today than only 10 years ago when I first started. And I’m so pleased to leave MAHC in a state of improved financial health.

It has been said that success is measured by what others achieve. I thank each and every person in the hospitals, in the community, and beyond Muskoka for the success you have fostered in what MAHC has been able to achieve. It has been my privilege to work in a community that is passionate about their hospitals. Until our paths cross again out and about in the region, take care of yourself and each other.

Yours in health,
Natalie