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Call to Ontario Politicians to Legislate
More Accountability of Hospital Boards
June 6
In a letter to today's the Star,
Lai Chu, Co-Chair of the newly-formed Ontario Alliance for Accountability
of Hospital Boards, called on hospital Boards in the province to recognize
they represent the people of Ontario & not the Government of Ontario.
Politicians also need
to be reminded that "it is their responsibility to update legislation
to make hospital governance accountable to and representative of the
people", Chu states.
Citing
greater accountability rules for public and private corporations, Chu also
pinpoints the stress, illness and waste hospital professionals
sometimes face as they deal with despotic and insensitive administrators
as well as their acquiescent boards. Star
article
The
O.A.A.H.B. was formed on May 14
by representatives of citizen organizations from
five widely-dispersed hospital boards in Southern Ontario. The Friends
were founding members.
Speaking at that time, Bill Parish, co-chair
of the Friends, stated that it's "clear that citizens in many
regions of Ontario face similar situations. We hope there will eventually be 156 such groups
covering every hospital board in the province".
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Star Calls on Province To Change Board Election Method
Hospital Boards need a transfusion according to an
editorial piece appearing in Saturday's Toronto Star (June 2).
Calling for a legislative change so some residents who
are not hand-picked by the current Board can be elected, editorial editor
Bob Hepburn echoed similar calls the Friends are making.
"A Board can not be truly effective when it loses
the confidence of the community it is supposed to serve", Hepburn
writes. "And that, sadly, is exactly what is happening in Ajax."
See the article at the Star
site.
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'Satellite' Status For
Ajax-Pickering?
The future direction and operation of Ontario’s
hospitals has been brought into question by recent remarks made by Hy
Eliasoph, CEO of the Central Local Health Integrated Network.
Speaking on the announcement of a new hospital for
Vaughan, Eliasoph stated: “We don’t believe the future delivery of
health care is supported by single big, huge hospital structures.”
“Health care trends have gravitated towards
satellite facilities linked to existing hospitals’ reported the
Toronto Star in an interview with Eliasoph.
The degree to which Mr. Eliasoph’s musings
reflects present Ministry of Health thinking is a matter of speculation.
The Friends have consistently held that the
Ajax-Pickering Hospital should be developed as a ‘full service’
facility to serve the present and future health care needs of the
rapidly-growing West Durham community.
Currently, the Ajax-Pickering Hospital is slowly
undergoing the construction of expanded emergency laboratory &
diagnostic facilities. Plans for a second phase expansion including
additional patient beds is on hold.
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Ombudsman Calls For More Hospital
Accountability
"Right now we have zero oversight of
hospitals" according to Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin.
Speaking to the Toronto Star recently,
Marin stated "The fact that there is no oversight in an area that
takes a huge amount of public funds is shocking to me...Ontario is the
poor cousin in Canada."
"Giving the Ombudsman's office power
to act as independent investigation is all about accountability. If an
institution is getting public funds to perform a public duty, they
should be subject to checks and balances", the report quotes.
The Friends agree. Hospitals should be
accountable in all aspects of their activities- patient care and
governance. Public institutions, like school boards, which also
spend large amounts of tax money, are elected by a wide electorate.
Therefore, they can be held accountable to the taxpayer for their actions.
This organization has raised questions
about R.V.H.S. governance. Increasing use of 'in camera' sessions at
Board meetings, limits placed on who can be nominated for Board
positions and prohibitions against participation of community
organizations are but three of several concerning local trends. These
moves restricting accountability and openness can undermine local
support for the system in the long term the group fears.
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 Members
plan to attend
R.V.H.S. Annual Meeting
June 26, 2007
Centenary site |
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Meeting with Board Reps 'Disappointing'
Governance Issues Remain Unresolved
A Friends committee met recently with
R.V.H.S.
representatives Janet Ecker and Ed Fleury to discuss concerns
raised about the lack of openness at Board meetings. The citizen's group
has been critical of an increasing use of 'in camera ' sessions at Board
meetings. A frank discussion of issues
was held but no agreement was reached. Committee members
feel 'disappointed' that their concerns were not adequately addressed.
The full text of the Friends
presentation can be found here
text
To
see the perceptions of the parties to the meeting go here.
The Friends were represented by
Yvonne
Bosch, Bill Parish, Morgan Diver, Pentti Lassila, Walter Donaldson,
and Angelo Dielemente.
In a follow-up letter of May 15, Ecker,chair of the Hospital Board Governance
Committee, continues to support 'in camera' meetings and a
nomination process restricted to those approved by a Board
Committee.
"We respect your perspective but we do not
share it', Ecker stated. See full contents here.
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