Vitalité Health Network meets with elected municipal officials from Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview
Vitalité Health Network, Thursday, October 20, 2022 – In a spirit of closer relations with its communities, Vitalité Health Network reached out to the elected municipal officials of Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview at a meeting held at Moncton City Hall on Wednesday, October 19, 2022.
Stakeholder engagement and closer community relations are priorities for the Network. The goal of this meeting was to discuss the health needs specific to this urban area and to involve the health sector and community leaders in exploring possible solutions.
“The health care system is facing major challenges, and communities’ needs are evolving rapidly. We must join forces to meet these challenges. Improving the quality of health care services as well as their accessibility depends on collaborating and joining forces with stakeholders,” explained Dr. France Desrosiers, President and CEO of the Network. “Responsibility for health issues in the community exceeds the scope of the Network’s mandate.”
At the meeting, Brigitte Sonier-Ferguson, the Network’s Senior Vice-President of Performance, University Mission and Strategy, set the stage by presenting an overview of the current health challenges and issues. Rino Lang, the Network’s Director of Adult Mental Health and Addiction Services, then presented the programs and initiatives underway in Greater Moncton in the areas of mental health, homelessness and addiction services. The region is experiencing major challenges in these areas.
The attendees, including mayors Dawn Arnold of Moncton, Yvon Lapierre of Dieppe and Andrew LeBlanc of Riverview, went on to share the most urgent health care service needs in their three cities. They expressed their concerns about mental health, homelessness and addiction and the need for proactive collaboration to meet objectives. They also stressed the importance of developing ways to measure success and of communicating the progress that is made, especially on these files.
Access to primary health care was also discussed. The population of the cities of Moncton and Dieppe is experiencing exponential growth due, in part, to the many immigrant families arriving in the region.
Kathy Toth, Director of Hospital Activities of the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre, took the opportunity to introduce herself and explain her role to those in attendance. Gérald Richard, Trustee, Ghislaine Arsenault, Vice-President of Communications and Engagement, and Frédéric Finn, Vice-President of Employee Experience of Vitalité Health Network also attended this meeting, the first in a series that will lay the groundwork for collaboration based on open discussion of major health issues. Senior managers Marc Landry from Moncton, Marc Melanson from Dieppe and Colin Smith from Riverview were also in attendance.
From left to right: Marc Landry, City Manager of Moncton; Yvon Lapierre, Mayor of Dieppe; Brigitte Sonier-Ferguson, Senior Vice-President of Performance, University Mission and Strategy of Vitalité Health Network; Andrew LeBlanc, Mayor of Riverview; Dawn Arnold, Mayor of Moncton; Marc Melanson, Chief Administrative Officer of Dieppe; Ghislaine Arsenault, Vice-President of Communications and Engagement of Vitalité Health Network; Colin Smith, Chief Administrative Officer of Riverview; and Rino Lang, Director of Adult Mental Health and Addiction Services of Vitalité Health Network.
