Friends of the Ajax Pickering Hospital

68 Hills Road, Ajax, Ontario L1S 2W4

October 15, 2007

Tom Atkins, Chair

and Members of the Board

Rouge Valley Health System

Rouge Valley Centenary

2867 Ellesmere Road

Toronto, Ontario

M1E 4B9

Dear Chair Atkins,

The Friends of the Ajax Pickering Hospital continue to be very, very concerned about the totally undemocratic manner in which the Board of the R.V.H.S. operates. Since 2005, The Friends have repeatedly requested the Board to institute policies and processes that would make the Board more democratic in its annual election procedures, and more open in its regular Board meetings; for example, by restricting and strictly regulating its extensive use of private sessions, and by making reports and committee and Board resolutions available to any member of the public prior to its meetings.

The Board of the R.V.H.S. spends public money - federal, provincial and municipal taxes plus public donations. Consequently, the Board’s policies and processes must allow the public to participate fully in democratic elections to the Board, to be fully informed of all reports to the Board (except where the privacy of patients, doctors, nurses or employees may be violated, or other specific matters where confidentiality is required), and to be informed of all resolutions of the Board and Board committees to be considered and debated by the Board. Again, with the caveat regarding privacy and confidentiality as stated above.

It is time that the Board and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care get the message that the local health systems such as R.V.H.S., that set public policy on hospital services and health care, and spend huge amounts of the public’s taxes and donations for hospital and health care - much, much more that the Ministry of Education - can no longer exclude the general public from being fully included in hospital governance, and the making of policies for local hospital services and health care. It is the public’s health system.

Hospital boards may regard themselves as private corporations, but in our view they are not. Hospital boards are, like school boards and municipal councils, public corporations spending vast sums of public money, and accountable to the public for their policies and expenditures.

Therefore, with respect to the following items, the Friends of the Ajax Pickering Hospital make these urgent requests, and that, where required the Board’s by-laws be so amended immediately, and no later than December 31, 2007:

1. To amend its by-laws immediately, and no later than December 31, 2007, to provide that any member of the corporation may be nominated and elected at the 2008 Annual General Meeting as was done prior to 2005, without having to have been previously approved for nomination and election by the Board Governance and Nominating Committee. The Friends request that this amendment be made now, so that this process will be in place for nominations and subsequent elections at the 2008 Annual General Meeting.

2. To improve communications with the community to amend the by-laws further so that at each regular Board meeting, and at the Annual General Meeting, an item is added to the business to be transacted that will allow any member of the corporation, or the public to ask questions, or make comments about any matter relating to the business of the Rouge Valley Health System.

3. Again, to improve communications and the understanding of health system issues, the Board take all necessary steps, so that discussions, debates and reports may be better heard, seen and understood at each Board meeting.

4. (a) All meetings of the Board of Directors of the R.V.H.S., and its committees shall be open to the public.

(b) The Board of Directors may exclude the public from any part of a meeting if any of the following matters will be discussed:

i) personal health information, as defined in section four of the Personal Health Information Act 2004;

ii) personnel matters involving an identifiable individual, including any employee of the R.V.H.S.;

iii) negotiations or anticipated negotiations between the R.V.H.S., and a person, or

a bargaining agent or party;

iv) litigation or contemplated litigation affecting the R.V.H.S., or any legal advice subject to solicitor/client privilege.

(c) The R.V.H.S. Board of Directors, or its committees, shall not exclude the public from a meeting before a vote is held on a motion to exclude the public which motion must clearly state the nature of the matter to be considered at the closed meeting, and the reasons why the public is being excluded.

5. That all reports to the Board, and all resolutions of the Board and Board committees be made available to all members of the public at least seventy-two hours before the Board meeting at which these reports and resolutions are to be considered. Items that may be excluded from public distribution are those detailed in 4(b) above.

6. (a) That, as in past practice up to 2007, the location of the Annual General Meeting of the R.V.H.S. be held alternately in Scarborough one year, and the Town of Ajax, or the City of Pickering, the next year.

(b) That, as the 2006 and 2007 Annual General Meetings were held at Centenary Hospital in Scarborough, the 2008 Annual General Meeting be held in the Town of Ajax, or the City of Pickering.

Thank you for your attention to these urgent public hospital matters.

We request that a copy of this letter be circulated to each hospital Board member.

Sincerely,

Yvonne Bosch Bill Parish

Co-Chair Co-Chair

copy/ Rik Ganderton, President and C.E.O., R.V.H.S.

Honourable George Smitherman, Minister of Health and Long Term Care

Foster Loucks and Members of the Board, Central East L.H.I.N.

Joe Dickson, M.P.P. Ajax, Pickering

Wayne Arthurs, M.P.P. Pickering, Scarborough East

Christine Elliott, M.P.P. Whitby, Oshawa

Mayor and Council, Town of Ajax

Mayor and Council, City of Pickering

Mayor and Council, Town of Whitby

Chair and Council, Region of Durham

Lai Chu, Co-Chair, Ontario Association for Accountability of Hospital Boards

John Balatinecz, Co-Chair, Ontario Association for Accountability of Hospital Boards

Andre Morin, Ontario Ombudsman