With Sudbury's Health Sciences North (HSN) being the largest single employer in the city, the hospital's new CEO said it is no surprise the hospital has become a significant economic driver in Northeastern Ontario.
David McNeil was the keynote speaker at a meeting of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce president series luncheon held Thursday. It was the first major public speaking event for McNeil since he was appointed as CEO last October.
McNeil said the hospital, the largest in Northern Ontario, has an annual operating budget of $721 million dollars. McNeil said while that budget is indeed significant, the monetary impact of HSN goes beyond that.
"But you know, that doesn't include all of the other income that's generated, for lack of a better term, for those people who are working in health sciences," he said.
McNeil said that all the nearby physician buildings and medical services they provide are not included in that initial budget number.
"So when you start to look at the economic impact and then the economic contribution directly that Health Sciences North contributes to the community of Sudbury and the broader Northeast at well over a billion dollars directly. So we are a significant economic driver within our community," he said.
McNeil said HSN has become a success story for the business community in Sudbury. He said the impact of HSN on the Sudbury economy is similar to the impact of the University Avenue health services community to the economy of downtown Toronto.
McNeil added that the economic impact of the hospital also works to attract new business to Sudbury "because of the scope of services we have and we provide," said McNeil.
He said HSN currently has 4,400 employees. Over and above that are more than 600 physicians, 2,900 medical learners and 400 volunteers.
He said the economic impact is also seen in the overall number of visits to the hospital each year. McNeil said more than 700,000 patients visit HSN annually. This includes more than 73,000 to the emergency room, 392,000 for diagnostic visits, more than 100,000 visits to the cancer centre, and more than 15,000 surgeries a year — a number which is growing, said McNeil.
In addition to the medical work and medical research done in Sudbury, McNeil said HSN also supports hospitals and health centres throughout Northeastern Ontario.
"We support 23 other hospitals in the Northeast, we are the referral center. If you require specialized care in Northeastern Ontario, and you're residing in one of our partner hospitals, you're most likely going to end up at Health Sciences North for that care. We are the lead centre for cancer care, for cardiac care, trauma care, dialysis care, and the list is going on and on," said McNeil.
In a follow up story to this report, McNeil also outlined the full scope of the innovative health services provided by HSN, how the hospital is planning to expand and why that expansion will be happening sooner than later.
Len Gillis covers health care as well as the mining industry for Sudbury.com.
