Tag Archives: North East LHIN
Why are six LHINs still afraid to let the community speak directly to their boards?
The Local Health Integration Networks spend a lot of time talking about community engagement.
In his 2010 report The LHIN Spin, the Ontario Ombudsman stated "the reality of community decision-making has fallen far short of the political spin."
Andre Marin writes: "there are no clear minimum standards for soliciting community views on systematic priorities or specific integration plans, and different LHINs interpret their public outreach obligations differently."
Marin picked up on the common complaint that while the LHINs regularly take steps to obtain local stakeholder views on the general state of the health care system, the performance has been less than adequate when it comes to changes that "have direct immediate impact on the lives of local residents."
Following that 2010 report, the province issued a toolkit in the following year that proposed guidelines on LHIN community engagement.
Tagged Central East LHIN, Central LHIN, Central West LHIN, Champlain LHIN, Erie-St. Clair LHIN, Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant LHIN, Local Health Integration Networks, Mississauga Halton LHIN, North East LHIN, North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN, North West LHIN, South East LHIN, South West LHIN, The LHIN Spin, Waterloo Wellington LHIN
Update: Matthews limits role of supervisor despite scathing report into northern hospital
"In 1970, Dirk sued Stig, Nasty, and Barry; Barry sued Dirk, Nasty, and Stig; Nasty sued Barry, Dirk, and Stig; and Stig sued himself accidentally. It was the beginning of a golden era for lawyers…"– From the UK Comedy The Rutles
Iroquois Falls residents may have found the circumstances at their local hospital similar to Eric Idle and Neil Innes' comedy The Rutles, but few of the 4,500 community residents of this northern Ontario town were likely laughing.
At one point even the Minister of Health's appointed investigator realized that he was also subject of an action which was withdrawn before he could be legally served.
"This was the first time I had been made aware of this action," Ron Gagnon wrote in a scathing report into the governance of the Anson General Hospital submitted at the end of June and made public in redacted form about a month later.
Gagnon, whose day job is CEO of the Sault Area Hospital, wasn't the only one to be subject to litigation by the small northern hospital.
With an annual budget of $13.8 million and 157 staff, the Anson General was spending more than $10,000 a month on legal fees – an estimate Gagnon believes to be low.
The 34-bed hospital planned to take the North East LHIN to judicial review over its decision to appoint KPMG to investigate public complaints over how the hospital was being run — an investigation the hospital failed to cooperate with.
Tagged Anson General Hospital, Bruce Peterkin, Hal Fjelsted, Iroquois Falls, MICs, MICS lawsuits, Ministry investigator, North East LHIN, Public Sector Compensation Restraint to Protect Public Services Act, Ron Gagnon, Sault Area Hospital, The Northern Nine