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Showing posts from October, 2010

Doctors and drugs -- the costs go up

With most of the focus on squeezing hospital budgets, it's good to see that some others are beginning to pick up on the rapid increase in public spending on drugs and doctors, a point OCHU has been making for some time.  Following the release of a health care spending report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) even Toronto's national newspaper (of the Establishment), the Globe and Mail, has raised concerns: Public spending on physicians has become the fastest-growing expense to Canada’s health-care system, a trend sparking growing calls for an overhaul to the payment system for doctors. The findings are contained in a new report released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which also found drug costs are eating up an increasing portion of Canada’s health-care budget. The report provides a stark glimpse of the future of Canada’s health-care system in a world where recessionary forces are squeezing hospital budgets but demand from

Layoff cost $8.2 million at Peterborough Hospital

Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) has announced that it will spend $8.2 million on severance and early retirement packages. The hospital is cutting over 280 jobs as part of the provincial government's hospital funding squeeze. With another $600,000 spent on retraining, the hospital's 2010-11 deficit will double to $17.8 million. PRHC president and CEO Ken Tremblay notes that the provincial government has sometimes given funding to help with one-time costs such as early retirement and severance packages when a hospital is cutting its deficit. "We haven't turned it into an ask, but we've certainly declared that the pressures that we face are significant...We're hopeful but ... the fiscal recovery plan contemplates that we self-finance this restructuring and we'll see how this progresses with each successive meeting with the LHIN." To cut costs, the hospital is driving down the average length of stay at the hospital. Length of stay in the

Erie St. Clair LHIN gives hospitals more funding to deal with high bed occupancy

Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital in Windsor has received funding for an additional 14 beds to handle patients who no longer require acute care.   A separate unit will be set up where so-called alternative level of care, or ALC, patients can be treated. The initiative was approved by the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network (LHIN). Pat Somers, Hotel-Dieu's vice-president of operations and chief nursing executive, said the new beds will be in place by January 2011 and remain at the hospital for at least a year. "We certainly welcome this help, but it's in no way going to solve our ALC issue," she said, noting that on Wednesday alone, 67 ALC patients were occupying acute care beds at Hotel-Dieu. Overall occupancy has been 99 per cent and at least three elective surgeries were cancelled due to a lack of beds. Leamington District Memorial Hospital, in the same LHIN, also received funding from the LHIN for 10 specially designated ALC patient beds. Earlier thi

LHINs number one priority is reducing number of people in hospitals -- Minister

In case anyone had any doubt about the government's plans for hospitals, Health Minister Deb Matthews has set it our repeatedly in the past few days in the Legislature: There are people in hospitals who do not want to be there, who should not be there, who could be better served elsewhere. We also know there are people in long-term-care homes who could, with the right combination of supports, get the care they need at home, in the community.... Too many people are in hospitals who do not need to be in hospitals if they had the right supports outside of hospitals.... People are staying in hospitals for far too long because the other supports are not available for them. That is the challenge that we have set ourselves to. The LHINs’ number one priority right now is reducing the number of people who are in hospitals who ought not to be, do not want to be in hospital, and are not getting the best possible care in hospitals... We are very much putting our focus on improving

Why not public reports on all contracting out by hospitals? Why stop at consultants?

Bill 122, the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act , would require LHINs and hospitals to report annually on their use of consultants . The Act however does not require any reports on other forms of contracting-out by the hospitals or LHINs  .  Despite the fact that these other contracts often dwarf consultant contracts.  So it is good to see at least some effort in this direction coming from the Progressive Conservatives. Here is Lisa McLeod, in her comments on the legislation yesterday at Queen's Park: We also suggested all contracts over $10,000 at all public sector bodies be posted online. This is happening in other places across the country. It costs nothing to do. It would allow for people across the province, whether they’re members of the opposition, members of the media or they’re taxpaying citizens to go online and see what companies are making over $10,000 in taxpayer money at various places across the province, but they chose not to do that. This is an easy, af

Sudbury hospital gains $3.9 million while MOHLTC reviews Muskoka proposal for $6 million

The Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) hospital is refusing to sign an "accountability agreement" with its Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), fearing it could lead to further service cuts and the loss of one of its two remaining sites (Huntsville District Memorial Hospital and the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital in Bracebridge). The hospital has already closed a third site recently. Board chair Sven Miglin explained “We do not believe that is the best intent for this community. This board firmly believes that Muskoka requires two acute care hospitals.” Local newspapers report that since 2009, the organization has found approximately $3.1 million in savings by closing beds, reducing staff, and shutting down the Burk’s Falls & District Health Centre. MAHC is currently forecasting a $4.2 million deficit for 2010/2011. The deficit is projected to grow to $6 million in 2011/2012. The organization’s working capital deficit is estimated at approximately $11.2 million

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 Ontari

Freedom of information, expense info, and consultant reports coming to Ontario hospitals

Another change proposed in the Broader Public Sector Accountability Act (Bil 122) is to make hospitals subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) as of January 1, 2012. The change is some time off:  the government, with some reason, claims that it will take the hospitals time to prepare for freedom of information (FOI) requests.  But once in place, records from the previous five years will be subject to FOI requests, the government assures us.   LHINs have been subject to FOI requests since 2005 (the year they were established). Personal health information is excluded from FOI requests. The Act also sets some requirements for the public posting of expense claim information by designated broader public sector organizations. The proposed legislation requires Local Health Integration Networks and hospitals to post information about expense claims onto their public web sites -- other broader public sector organizations may be required by regulation

New contracting-out rules for hospitals and the broader public sector

The provincial government is bringing in legislation that will set standards for broader public sector organizations that contract out for good or services. This is part of the proposed Broader Public Sector Accountability Act , introduced on the 20th.  The proposed legislation would establish procurement rules, a supply chain 'code of ethics' and a procurement policies and procedures standard. Since April 1, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities have been required to follow a provincial " Supply Chain Guideline."  The "Guideline" incorporates two principles: a Supply Chain Code of Ethics and a Procurement Policies and Procedures standard.  Until the new procurement and expense claim directives are issued under the new legislation, BPS organizations have been told to follow these Guidelines.   As expected, the government is also limiting the ability of hospitals and other broader public sector organizations to use public funding to hire lobbyist

Our health care money is being thrown into a 'black abyss'?

Some of the commentary on the Auditor General's report on hospitals use of consultants is over the top.  Here's the Sun's   Christina Blizzard : For those of you who wonder why we're taxed to death, yet our health system is still an unholy mess, wonder no more.  Your money is being thrown into a black abyss to pay for well-connected insiders -- with little or no accountability. Hmm... not really. The cash thrown overboard by contracting out work to consultants is not big money, relative to what we have to spend on health care.  (If only health care reform were such a simple issue.) A more promising start would be to look at the areas actually driving health care costs. Drugs, medical equipment and doctors.  Or at least look at the major areas where hospitals are contracting-out services.  And that is not for consultants.  dallan@cupe.ca

Auditor General: Hospital contracting out practices fall short. Now what about the big contracts?

The Auditor General makes two general observations about the contracting out of services to consultants: [1] Ontario’s health-care sector makes extensive use of consultants, and [2] all too often, they do this without following sound business practices. The Auditor found some problems with the practices of the Ministry of Health (e.g. the Ministry seemed to favour certain consultants in some cases) and more in the practices of the LHINs. But it's the hospitals that really get the brunt of the Auditor's criticisms. "We noted far too many instances at the hospitals we visited where sound public-sector business practices were not followed in the selection and oversight of consulting ser­vices." So hospitals did not require: • assignments to be well defined and properly justified before consultants were engaged; • adequate contractual arrangements with fixed price ceilings; • payments to be tied to specified deliverables; and • consultant performance to be p

Ready to pay? As governments cut health care, US corporations move in

The  National Post reports that private health care and home care "business is booming and expected to grow even more in the next decade."  And the Americans are coming:   "The Canadian market is growing and will grow by another 25% at least over the next 10 years," says Peter Thompson, a franchise consultant with Plutus Consulting Group. There are already between 18,000 and 19,000 franchised private health firms in the United States -- a mature, saturated market, according to Mr. Thompson-- but the Canadian market is still in its infancy. That has companies south of the border looking to take advantage of the growing demand in and lack of well-established competition in the market. "The Americans are looking at the Canadian market and licking their chops," Mr. Thompson says. "It is a growing potential marketplace here." David Millman, who bought the rights to a Toronto franchise of a U.S.-based home care provider adds, "There is a lot

Sudbury hospital beds to close? Hospital overcrowding threat

The Sudbury Regional Hospital has been operating 100 transitional beds for patients who no longer need acute care services at one of its old sites -- the Memorial Hospital.  (The Memorial had been one of the main sites for the hospital until a new facility opened earlier this year.)  Opening beds for such patients at underutilized hospital sites has been a modest trend in the past year, as high hospital bed occupancy chokes up the hospitals.  Northern Life reports the hospital is opening thirty more such beds at the Memorial site -- but without provincial funding.  Hospital vice-president Dave McNeil suggests this is going to cause significant budget problems for the hospital. Worse, all the Memorial beds are slated to close April 1, 2011, as funding commitments run out. In June, the Sudbury Regional Hospital board recommended that the site be kept open until 2013.  And yet currently, the hospital sometimes moves in to triple over-capacity (which means housing patients in i

More contracting-out problems for the Ontario Liberals?

The Toronto Sun reports that tomorrow the Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter will release a follow-up to his  report on contracting-out by eHealth Ontario, a report that set out some pretty rotten contracting-out practices. The Auditor General told the Sun his office was asked to conduct spot audits on the use of consultants at the Ontario Ministry of Health, Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) and hospitals. “We look at the procurement and oversight of consultants at the ministry,” McCarter said of his 30-page report. “We picked a few LHINs to have a look at and we went out to a number of hospitals to have a look at consultants’ procurement and use and ... (the report says) here’s what we found”. When the Auditor General's report on eHealth came out in October 2009, Toronto Star columnist Jim Coyle noted that the Auditor General had highlighted the near total reliance on outside consultants at e-Health. By 2008, the eHealth Program Branch had almost 300 consul

Ontario increases CCAC funding1%. More to come?

The press secretary to Minister of Health Deb Matthews, said Friday the province is planning for a funding increase for the Hamilton Niagara Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) “in the very near future.”  The Hamilton Spectator   reported   just prior to this announcement that the CCAC was cutting home care services to deal with a deficit shaping up to be in the $10 to 12 million range this fiscal year. The government's increase for the CCAC however will only amount to$2.3 million, or 1%.  So the cuts, it seems are going to keep on coming. The increase for homecare (such as it is) is still 1% more than  earlier reports had suggested  -- and we are more than half way through the fiscal year.  But I don't think this announcement quite qualifies as a "step forward". The 1% is reportedly part of the province-wide increase for CCACs.  The (acting) boss of the "Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant LHIN" reports that the LHIN has known about the new money for

Conservatives trying to drink whisky out of a bottle of wine in Simcoe

Progressive Conservative MPP and former cabinet minister, Jim Wilson has started three petitions to keep medical laboratory services in Stayner, Tottenham and Elmvale,  small communities in Simcoe county. All well and good. The centralization of medical laboratories in rural areas is causing people to travel further and wait longer for services. It's good to see a Conservative politician oppose the loss of small town health services. (And we will see if he sticks to it if the PCs are elected next year.) But in two of the three communities where Wilson has started his campaign, the labs are and run by large, for-profit corporations, Lifelabs and Gamma-Dynacare. And that's the rub. It is completely appropriate to have a political process about public services. It happens all the time.  The political process will ultimately determine whether demands from within the community will be afforded -- or not. But you can't run a for-profit business the same way. Private b

Home care in Hamilton and Niagara facing cuts. Hospital back-ups feared

The Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Community Care Access Centre has run up a $5 million deficit so far this year.  If it doesn't make significant cuts, the shortfall will grow to between $10 million and $12 million by March 31, the end of the fiscal year, according to the Hamilton Spectator . To cut costs, new patients needing more than 60 hours of home care a month will have to stay in hospital on indefinite waiting lists. New home care clients will get only one bath a week unless they are incontinent and those at low risk will face wait lists for services. Other patients will be sent to community nursing clinics for care instead of having home care come to them. Hospitals worry the result will be backlogs, particularly in the emergency department. "It impacts the whole system from end to end," said Mary MacLeod, vice-president of patient services at Burlington's Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital. The Ontario Minister of Health, Deb Matthews has claimed that

Superbug comes to a crowded Ontario hospital

The Sault Area Hospital has yet another outbreak of hospital acquired infections (HAIs), the Sault Star reports . In fact the MRSA outbreak was declared September 7, and 22 patients have now tested positive. Hospital president Ron Gagnon pointed to overcrowding as a contributing factor. "It's showing over-capacity is an issue," he added. As per government policy, the hospital is trying to reduce bed occupancy by developing new programs to move patients back to home.  And the hospital has achieved some modest success.  As of last week, 99 "ALC patients" (typically patients in medical or surgical beds who no longer require a medical or surgical bed), down from an average 103 in September. However, the majority of these patients  -- 73 -- are awaiting placement in long-term care and cannot benefit from these programs. As elsewhere, long-term care spaces are scarce in the community. And as elsewhere, the problem of high bed occupancy and the high number

Kenora hospital bed squeeze tightens. On transitional beds and home care.

Patients who no longer need medical or surgical beds (ALC patients) now occupy about half of the medical and surgical beds at the Lake of the Woods Hospital in Kenora, according to the Miner and News . Despite a rapidly aging population, the provincial government is slowing the development of new nursing home beds across the province. Some new transitional beds are being established in nursing homes, retirement homes, hospitals, and other facilities around the province, but not in sufficient numbers to stop the back up of patients in hospitals.  As a result, high bed occupancy constantly threatens the ability of the hospitals to treat new patients and provide adequate care.  "We've been fortunate that there hasn't been as much (admittance) as we had last fall and winter," said Mark Balcaen, the hospital CEO. "We're coping but at any moment, things could change. All you need is a four or five person surge to be admitted tonight and we're back to the

Central diagnostic image repository coming to Ontario. But will this mean more care closer to home?

The transnational corporation GE Healthcare has announced  the completion of a Digital Imaging Repository that connects hospitals and medical centers throughout Southwestern Ontario.  This will allow  26 hospitals in the Erie St. Clair LHIN and South West LHIN to share diagnostic images of examinations. The repository already contains images from 2.7 million exams and will grow by 120,000 new exams each month. These exams can be accessed by acute care facilities in the two LHINs. Greg Reed, CEO of eHealth Ontario, the organization responsible for implementing the Ontario government’s "eHealth" agenda states “Now radiologists, referring physicians and specialists across Southwestern Ontario can view images and results anywhere, anytime using the Southwestern Ontario Diagnostic Imaging Network.” GE Healthcare says "This collaboration enables radiologists to access images that originated in other facilities. Referring physicians can receive patient reports faster. Pa

North Bay-Sudbury bed transfer: Ombudsman refuses to investigate, LHIN hopes for closure

The Ontario Ombudsman has decided not to investigate the decision to move 31 mental health hospital beds from North Bay to Sudbury. A complaint, filed in July by the Concerned Citizens' Committee of North Bay and Area, charged that  the North East LHIN didn't adequately consult with patients, families and experts before making its decision April 29. The North East LHIN acknowledged that an open call for public consultation wasn't made, but said a task force consulted stakeholders. Gareth Jones, director of the Special Ombudsman Response Team that considered the complaint, said his team interviewed many people before deciding not to investigate the complaint. Linda Williamson, a spokeswoman for Ombudsman Ontario, said the watchdog does not investigate decisions by a government organizations, such as a local health integration network, but rather the process. Louise Paquette, CEO of the North East LHIN, commented "I'm pleased we've got some closure.  We

Privatized US health care falls behind. Don't let it come to Canada.

The U.S. health care system is responsible for the slower rise in life expectancy in the U.S. compared with other developed countries (including Canada) which have universal health care coverage, according to a new U.S. research study. The Ottawa Citizen reports  the study, by a team at New York's Columbia University, ruled out other factors that are often blamed for the relatively short life expectancy in the US (such as obesity, smoking, traffic accidents and a U.S. murder rate that is among the highest in the developed world). Researchers compared U.S. health-care spending and mortality statistics with those of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.  The study found that life expectancy and health-care costs from 1975 to 2005 rose in all the countries, but costs climbed faster in the United States, while lifespan rose more slowly. Researchers reported that the United States was fifth among the l

Mike Harris: A hero of hospital reform

Tom Closson, the CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association, has issued a call for a lower rate of growth for health care expenditures by the provincial government: ...it is clear that, without any significant tax increases, any plan to a re-balance the provincial budget must involve a much lower rate of expenditure growth for health care. And it is clear that the government recognizes this.  To quote from a recently-issued government document, quote, “To balance the budget by 2017-18, the government’s plan requires holding the annual growth in program expense to an average of 1.9 percent beyond 2012-13 – much lower than in the past”, end quote. Closson's slide show suggests that this level of funding will mean negative   funding increases for wages, new services, and supplies. I  mentioned a few days ago that public sector organizations were already tip-toeing around government, afraid to offend the government's financial sensibilities.  But even by that modest standar

Health care for-profit corporation calls for more private payment

For-profit health care corporations continue to lead the drive for more private payment for health care services.  This time, it's the CEO and president of Chartwell that "foresees long-term care offering a private-pay option in order to meet the demands of a changing demographic." Seniors “won’t settle for anything less and they will put all of the pressure on the government to allow them to buy what they want,” Brent Binions told  the organization representing Ontario for-profit LTC providers. “I strongly believe that if it’s a little more competitive, there’s a little more return for your innovation, for what you do, people will be more innovative." Nevertheless, Binions adds: "“We’re not saying we want to make more money so let’s have private pay, that’s not the goal." Of course. dallan@cupe.ca

EMS response time reports delayed two years

The provincial government has slowed down the implementation of the new response time standards for emergency medical services. A revised provincial regulation now allows municipalities two more years before they must report on response times and their response time plans. On September 17, 2010 Regulation 368/10 came into effect, amending the earlier Regulation (257/00) on response times. Under Regulation 257/00, municipalities were required to submit a response time performance plan to the government by 1 October 2010 for the following year.   Under the revised regulation, municipalities will now have until 1 October 2012 to do this. When filed with the Ministry of Health these plans will be publicly available. Given the overcrowding in hospitals and the attendant backups in Emergency Rooms and  "offload delays" for paramedics , the government probably appreciates putting off the reporting of the local plans until after the next election (now less than a year away).

Paid lobbyists, the public sector, and golden opportunities

Health Minister Deb Matthews wants to legislate a prohibition on public sector organizations hiring lobbyists.  Matthew's legislation would amend the lobbyists' registry to prevent private consultants from registering to lobby government on behalf of a publicly-funded institution, the Toronto Sun reports .  Matthews wants the legislation before Christmas.  Public sector organizations using funds from government to hire lobbyists to help them get more money from government does sound odd.  Even the Ontario Hospital Association says hospital board chairs and CEOs should be the ones speaking to the government on behalf of their facilities. It's been their policy for five years. Except, what about all the for-profit corporations that hire lobbyists by the boatload?  Won't they get a leg up on the non-profit public sector organizations?  Professional lobbyists bring insider knowledge and (very importantly) government contacts.  It's hard to see hospital CEOs an

Crisis patients see 203% increase in wait times for LTC beds

Yesterday, the Institute for  Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES -- funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and LTC) released a detailed study on seniors health care entitled  Aging in Ontario .  The study reports a number of interesting results: The number of Ontario seniors aged 85 and older increased by 36% over six years (2002-3 through 2008-9), This is more than any other age group in the adult population.  There was also a 13.7% increase in seniors 65 and over. The number of acute care hospital beds per 100,000 Ontario seniors decreased (Quite significantly: from close to 1,000 beds to, perhaps, 850 beds -- D.A.). The number of "ALC patients" (i.e. patients in acute care beds who no longer need acute care services) waiting for a bed at an LTC home (i.e. a nursing home)  almost doubled between 2005/06 and 2008/09. Patients in hospitals waited 55 days in the last quarter of 2008/09 for admittance to an LTC home. Those admitted from the community waited 153 days, w

Come together: OCHU / CUPE Locals protest in Peterborough. Jeff Leal must defend hospital

Lots of fun yesterday at the OCHU/CUPE rally in defense of the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC), with a major focus on local Liberal MPP Jeff Leal. The rally called on him to start to fight for the local hospital, rather than the cuts. The so-called "Hospital Improvement Plan"   cuts 1 2 medical beds, along with 8 surgical beds, 4 critical care beds, and 4 beds for women and children.  The plan also envisages closing 32 beds at Christmas and March break, and closing 16 beds during 4 summer weeks.  Other cuts include: driving down the length of stay, reduced diagnostic testing, reduced CT scan staffing (despite already having CT wait times well over the provincial target), reductions in the neuro and breathing clinic, reductions in hospital cleaning staff, and reductions in dietary staff. As well, in January, 24 medical beds were reduced to "sub-acute" beds.  Eight other sub-acute beds are being created. But as these sub-acute beds are the targets of c

Ottawa -- 30% increase in hospital patients waiting for LTC

The CBC reports an alarming increase in the number of hospital patients waiting for long-term care, noting that the Ottawa Hospital says the problem has increased by 30 per cent in the past five years. Cameron Love, vice-president of the  Ottawa Hospital, pretty much captures the government's current approach:  hospitals need to assess whether patients can go home, instead of moving them towards long-term care.  Indeed, the government  is reluctant to fund new long term care beds and its strategy is officially called "Aging at Home". Not everyone thinks the strategy has been a success:  "Clearly the LHINs have bungled the Aging at Home program," said Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak in August .  "Despite putting a quarter of a billion dollars into the strategy, we've actually gone backwards with wait lists for long-term care homes increasing by over 4,000 people and waits for emergency rooms well in excess of provincial standards." And

When will the government stop caring for hospital patients in retirement homes?

In response to a Toronto Star investigative report that pulled back the veil on appaling conditions for residents in for-profit retirement homes, Health minister Deb Matthews says caring for the elderly in a rapidly aging society is the one issue "that keeps me up at night. I am consumed by this." My question: when will the government end its policy of caring for hospital patients in for-profit retirement homes?     dallan@cupe.ca

More grief for the LHINs

The mysterious and hurried departure of the CEO of the Waterloo-Wellington LHIN, became slightly clearer on Thursday when she told the media that she had been forced out by the LHIN's board of directors. This has only deepened the problems for the LHINs.  Here's the conclusion of the editorialists at the Guelph Mercury in their editorial, " Hanmer's exit proof of problem ": The brief and vague public declarations issued by the local health integration network in connection with the abrupt end of the term of its chief executive officer this week don't go far enough.... The public has a right to know when key public servants leave - whether they leave voluntarily or are obliged to leave. Further, the public has a right to know in either circumstance whether they receive compensation in connection with their break from the province and, if so, how much... dallan@cupe.ca  

Time limit placed on privatization of surgeries and diagnostic tests in Regina

An arbitrator has ruled that the Regina Health Region cannot contract-out surgeries and diagnostic tests past 2013.  As reported  earlier , the Saskatchewan government has joined the privatization craze, encouraging health regions in Saskatoon and Regina to contract out surgeries and diagnostic tests.  At the expedited arbitration hearing, CUPE and its expert witnesses – Dr. Michael Rachlis and Dr. Robert Evans – showed the employer’s costing methodology was flawed. Although the arbitrator accepted the employer’s assertion it had to contract-out surgeries and diagnostic tests to meet the government’s wait time targets by 2013, the arbitrator agreed with CUPE that the work could be done more cost-effectively in the public sector. He also agreed there is "sufficient evidence" to show the health region could improve the capacity of the public system to deal with wait times. Arbitrator Daniel Ish wrote: Even if additional capital expenditures have to be made, in the long ter

Minister: No cuts to small and northern hospital ERs (for now)

Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews has confirmed that no cuts to small and northern hospital emergency rooms will occur until at least after new small and northern ER Task Force  reports this spring. "I know that all of the LHINs across the province are going to be very, very interested to see what recommendations come out of this report," Matthews said in the small hospital town of St. Mary's on Friday. "I fully expect that they will not be making any decisions related to emergency rooms until this panel has completed their work."   With an election coming next fall, this is hardly surprising.  After that?  All bets are off, I'd say.     dallan@cupe.ca

Muskoka Algonguin Healthcare hospital: "It's getting drastic"

Huntsville town and district councillor Fran Coleman has confirmed the area's LHIN has agreed to discuss the deficit recovery plan for the Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare hospital at the town and district council meeting Oct. 18. “As a community leader, if the community is telling me health care is paramount to them, I think I have an obligation to listen and take that issue forward,” she said. Coleman hopes to get some answers regarding how the debt will be dealt with.  “It’s getting drastic. We’re nickel-and-diming it (the hospital) to death by cutting things like cafeterias and operating room hours. How are we ever going to get to the bottom of it when we’re already umpteen million in the hole?” “We’re just oozing right now. There’s going to be one day when the artery is severed and it’s just going to gush.” dallan@cupe.ca