Caring for Our Community Starts with Our People
2025-12-20
One of the key priorities within
the People pillar of our 2022-2027 Strategic Plan is supporting the
wellbeing of our staff and cultivating a high-performing team. These
commitments guide much of the work we do at CCH to strengthen our culture,
invest in our people, build an environment where staff feel valued and supported,
and ensure we remain a hospital our community can feel confident in and depend
on.
Last month, CCH held our annual
Fall Staff Appreciation Week. The week’s flagship event was our Staff Awards
Ceremony, where we celebrated employees nominated by their coworkers for
exemplifying exceptional care. This year, more than 70 employees from a wide
range of departments were nominated across various award categories, a
reflection of the dedication and compassion found across our hospital.
I am reminded not only of the
calibre of our people, but of the strong culture they help create every day at
CCH.
That culture is also a driving
force behind an encouraging trend we’ve seen over the past year: our staffing
picture is steadily improving. The hospital has come a long way in recruitment
and retention since the most challenging days of the pandemic, when staff turnover
was at an all-time high.
Across many areas of the hospital,
we are now fully staffed with no current vacancies. Key clinical groups,
including Registered Nurses, Registered Practical Nurses, and Personal Support
Workers, are maintaining stable with manageable vacancy rates, similar to or
better than what is seen across the province. In total, over 300 positions were
filled this past year at CCH.
While some positions remain open
and certain areas have been more challenging to recruit for than others, we
continue to see progress as new graduates, returning staff, and experienced
hires choose CCH, and as more of our current team members choose to stay and
build their careers here.
With nearly 1,400 employees, CCH
is one of the region’s leading and largest employers.
Physician recruitment has also
remained strong throughout 2025, with 37 new physicians joining CCH, 5
full-time and 32 part-time. These hires span a wide range of specialties,
including Hospital Medicine, Diagnostic Services, Psychiatry, Anesthesia, Pediatrics,
Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics/Gynaecology, Internal Medicine, and Surgical
Assistants. Recruitment was consistent all year, with multiple additions in
high-demand areas such as Anesthesia, Hospital Medicine, Diagnostic Serv ices,
and Psychiatry. We also saw growth in specialized areas including diabetes,
geriatrics, and pediatric care. Altogether, these new physicians further
strengthen our medical staff and support enhanced access to care for our
community. Currently over 260 physicians hold privileges to practise at CCH.
I am proud to say that CCH is in
an extremely strong position to continue delivering exceptional care into 2026
and beyond. Our community can feel confident in both the quality of our
services and the stability of the team providing them.
On behalf of all of us at CCH, we
wish you a happy holiday season and a healthy new year. Thank you for trusting
us with your care.