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Judgment on Adequacy of 'Public
Consultation' in RVHS Mental Health Bed Move On Hold
The judicial review of the consultation procedure
followed by RVHS in the transfer of the mental health beds from
Ajax-Pickering Hospital was heard by the court on Friday July 11.
A decision was deferred. Results are expected before
September 1.
Lawyers for OPSEU, which initiated the review, contend that
the law requiring prior public consultation before such changes are
made was broken.
The Local
Health Services Integration Act requires providers must “engage
the communities of diverse persons and entities” when developing
plans and setting priorities for the delivery of health services.
The Friends support
the OPSEU case.
The consultation process,
belatedly ordered by the LHIN when the RVHS attempted to rush the
move, has been labeled a 'farce'. The Friends claim
that a decision to eliminate beds locally was made before any public
consultation ever took place. It
is 'abundantly clear that the Central East LHIN never had any
intention of reconsidering the transfer of the twenty Mental Health
beds, or the restoration of the nine additional promised beds', the
Friends wrote recently..
The hearing will be the
first test in Ontario's judicial system of the consultation
requirement. The ruling may be precedent setting.
Send David Caplan a Message
Help Save A Full Range of Medical Services in Ajax,
Pickering and Whitby. Demand An End to Amalgamation Agreement.
"As a tax paying citizen of West Durham, I request that you
declare the Amalgamation Agreement signed May 31, 1998 to be null
and void so that the Ajax/Pickering Hospital can continue to provide
a full range of essential medical services for the residents of
Ajax, Pickering and Whitby." (this is portion of the letter
only)
How you can act:
1. Read the full letter here.
2. Send it to Health Minister David Caplan via
July 15, 2008
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Clarification of Future Ajax-Pickering
Hospital Services Sought
Region to Decide On Withholding
Hospital Expansion Funds in September
A request by the Friends to withhold the balance
of Durham's capital funding to expansion of the Ajax-Pickering
Hospital will be decided at the September 17th Regional Council meeting.
Ajax mayor Steve Parish pledged to introduce a
motion that
the promise of full services at A-P be honoured and that mental health beds not be moved to Scarborough
before Durham
taxpayers funds are transferred out of the Region. At that point the
substance of the issue will be decided.
An attempted procedural move to deal with the
question on June 18th didn't gain the needed two-thirds votes to set
aside the rules and decide the matter at the Council
meeting.
At this point, the Region has neither said 'yes'
nor 'no' to the funds transfer said Friends co-chair Bill Parish.
The issue "hasn't been dealt with". Parish claimed.
The question of suspending the funds transfer
arose when the Friends wrote to Regional Chair Anderson and the
Regional Councillors on June 3rd.
To read the full text of the letter, go
here.
To read the Dec. 14, 2005 Regional Council
resolution re reduction of services at Ajax-Pickering Hospital, go
here.
For further
background consult the archives.
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