THUNDER BAY - After more than 47 years in the health care field, including seven years serving as the head of the Northwest Local Health Integration Network, Laura Kokocinski announced she will be retiring early next year.
Kokocinski first joined the LHIN in 2006 as a senior director of planning, integration, and community engagement before becoming the CEO in 2010.
The announcement was made by the LHIN board of directors that Kokocinski will be retiring on Apr. 1, 2018 and the search for a new CEO will begin immediately.
During her time as CEO, Kokocinski said there have been many challenges facing health care in Northwestern Ontario, but she is proud of what she and the LHIN have accomplished in the last 10 years.
“When I first started at the LHIN, big issues were with the senior population, aging, looking at mental health and addiction, access to service, and availability of services to people in our region,” she said. “We have a huge geography, we are the largest LHIN in the province of Ontario and the smallest population.”
According to Kokocinski, one of the biggest accomplishments of the LHIN was the health service blueprint, which was started in 2010 and released in 2012.
“This is talking about an integration strategy to build bridges, collaboration, and partnerships among all the health service providers across our region to better serve the people across Northwestern Ontario,” she said.
“We’ve been making huge progress and we are very delighted, we have some early adopters communities moving forward right now on integrated health community organizations in Dryden, Manitouwadge, and also in Nipigon,” she continued.
Going back to when she first started at the LHIN, Kokocinski said efforts in community outreach and engagement continue to pay off today through consultations with the public and health service providers.
“That job has continued right through to this day,” she said. “We meet with thousands of people to talk about health care, what is working well and where are there areas for improvement.”
Kokocinski said she acknowledges that challenges remain in Northwestern Ontario when it comes to improving access to health care and service delivery. But she points to the expansion of telemedicine and tele-homecare as ways to get health care to people throughout the region.
“I think most of the things I had hoped to do, which is improve access and expanding services to people, we have been able to do that,” she said. “One of the things I have always been concerned about is trying to maintain the services in our region with a declining population, but I am happy to say that not only have I done that, but I’ve also been able to expand services in the region.”
However, with the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre in a state of gridlock, or surge capacity nearly 90 per cent of the time since April, Kokocinski said there is work to be done in how hospitals provide acute care.
“Acute care is not just dependent on the hospital, it’s dependent on community care, mental health and addictions, and community support service,” she said. “This needs to work as a system, not just individual support sectors.”
