Different responses to Auditor General's report on contracting out

The Ontario Hospital Association is awfully repentant for the faulty hospital contracting out that was highlighted this past week by the Auditor General. Here's the OHA's release:

On behalf of Ontario’s 154 hospitals, the Ontario Hospital Association apologizes without reservation to all Ontarians for failing to meet their expectations with respect to the hiring and management of consultants. Ontarians have the right to expect that every hospital has the processes in place necessary to ensure that public funds are spent appropriately, and that these processes are always followed. We welcome the Auditor General’s report. We accept his findings completely, and are committed to implementing every one of his recommendations. Our focus now is on moving forward – to implementing the Auditor General’s recommendations, as well as the legislative, regulatory and policy changes proposed by the Government of Ontario. By doing so, we hope to regain the trust and confidence of the Ontarians we serve.

Not all the hospitals and LHINs did quite so much groveling, however. Ross Memorial Hospital (in Lindsay) was one of the 16 hospitals reviewed by the Auditor, and they defended themselves pretty much tooth and nail. And here's how the Queensway Carleton Hospital responded in a letter to the Ottawa Citizen: "We have operated under the principle that Ontario taxpayers deserve to have maximum value for their health-care dollars."

Robert Cushman, the boss of the Champlain LHIN, told the Ottawa Citizen that some of the "sole- sourced" contracts actually saved the LHIN -- and taxpayers -- money. "There were some mistakes made, but on the whole, it looks very strong. I'm not embarrassed about our record on this at all."

dallan@cupe.ca

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