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Friends Renew Call for
Democratization of Board Operations
"The Friends of the 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",
co-chairs Bosch & Parish state in a letter to Board chair Atkins dated
Oct. 15.
"Since 2005, The Friends have
repeatedly requested the Board to institute policies and processes that
would make the Board more democratic in its election procedures, and more
open in its regular meetings..."
Specifically, the citizens' group wants:
- a return to past practice to allow
nomination of Board candidates from the floor of the Annual Meeting
without an OK from a Board committee,
- an agenda item allowing members to ask
questions and comment at meetings,
- meetings that are more open to the
public unless a motion clearly explaining why they are excluded is
made,
- reports and resolutions publicly
available prior to meetings,
- the location of the2008 General Meeting
in Ajax or Pickering & past practice or rotating locations be
resumed.
Citing the huge amounts of public taxes
& donations (much more than School Boards) spent by Hospital Boards,
The Friends call for accountability to the public for their policies and
expenditures similar to the practices of School Boards and Councils in the
Province.
The letter has been sent to the RVHS
CEO, local MPPS, Councils, the chairs of the Central LHIN, co-chairs of
the Ont. Assoc. for Accountability of Hospital Boards and the Ombudsman.
A full text is available here.
(large PDF file)
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The shovels are in the ground finally to
start Phase 1 of the hospital expansion. A new emergency department is
part of this plan. There is no news on plans for a Phase 2. There is a
need to expand patient bed capacity. The existence of patient bed capacity has
proven a key to reducing patient wait times in pilot projects now
underway.
A formal ground breaking ceremony will
occur on Nov. 8th at 3 p.m.
For more information, see here.
Friends Meet With RVHS CEO Ganderton
A group of the Friends met Wednesday (Oct. 24) with
recently-appointed RVHS CEO Rik Ganderton.
A good and frank exchange of ideas and concerns
was held. Mr. Ganderton outlined a vision for the future of the Ajax
campus and some of the challenges and opportunities which the RVHS will
face as the plans unfold and the area develops.
The
Friends appreciate Mr. Ganderton's candour and his generosity in allotting
the morning to the meeting with the Friends' community.
In a letter to co-chair Bill Parish dated Oct. 24, Mr.
Ganderton thanked the Friends for meeting and stated he 'enjoyed our frank,
positive exchange and seeing the common ground we share about the future of
our community hospital.'
'I look forward to future meetings and conversations with
the Friends', he stated.
Links (PDF files): Friends' Agenda here,
text of Ganderton letter here
& presentation here
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