Who is that guy?
Hey – who is that guy on the Diablogue flag? His name is Harjinder Sangha, more familiarly known to us as Harry. He works as a OR Assistant at Mackenzie…
opseudiablogue
Managing scarcity in long term care
Managing scarcity can be very time consuming. Ontario has been wrestling with rules around managing the shortage of long-term care beds, trying to find ways to meet sometimes contradictory objectives…
CPP reform: Pensions and population health objectives should be linked
There are two accepted axioms in health care: 1. The older you get, the more health care you use. 2. Wealth is closely linked to health, or what policy wonks…
Like Canada, growth in U.S. economy not going to workers
As the Ontario Tories gear up to take a run at suppressing the wages of working people north of the border through attacks on unions, fixed benefit pension plans and…
More bad news for private diagnostic facilities
Those darn private for-profit health care facilities. You can’t locate them where you need them. You can’t tell if their doctor owners are padding their pockets with unnecessary referrals. Quality…
Auditor’s Report — Warning flags about diagnostic self referrals
Today’s release by the Ontario Health Coalition regarding the 2012 report by the Auditor General of Ontario: Toronto – The Ontario Auditor General’s report released today raises warning flags about…
Guidelines for media reporting of suicide need reconsideration – Picard, Goldbloom
If the audience was expecting a debate, they may have left disappointed. Globe and Mail reporter Andre Picard and Dr. David Goldbloom, Chair of the Mental Health Commission of Canada,…
If public sector workers have it so good, how come private sector firms dominate best employer lists?
The Canadian political elite really needs to be much more consistent in their propaganda. They like to whip up antipathy towards public sector workers suggesting they are overpaid and pampered,…
Who should you trust? Former PC advisor shills in the Star for private health care
Francesca Grosso says she is an established expert in health care policy. A former PC health care policy director, her day job these days is a principal at Grosso McCarthy,…
Tory MPP Hillier supports cuts to hospital in his own constituency
Tory MPP Randy Hillier is the Rob Ford of rural Ontario. He often makes headlines for all the wrong reasons. His hatred of unions seems to be trumping common sense…
Are health services really shifting, or is the health minister being shifty?
We can all relax now. All those hospital cuts we’ve witnessed recently – Health Minister Deb Matthews says they are not happening. She says these services are instead being shifted.…
What took so long for community funding to arrive?
Community health care received the biggest percentage increase from this spring’s provincial budget, signalling the government’s intention to transition more of the health system into home care and other community…
“Ontario Health Links” initially intended to look a high users
Commisioner Don Drummond raised it in his report. Former OHA President Tom Closson frequently spoke about it. Five per cent of the Ontario population uses up about 40 per cent…
Half of Ontario hospitals admit to recent outpatient physiotherapy cuts
The last time the government granted a license to operate a OHIP designated physiotherapy clinic was 1964. This is the alternative government now wants patients to turn to after hospital-based…
Unintended Consequences – Northumberland Hills CEO says replacing ALC patients comes at a cost
Reducing the number of “alternative level of care” (ALC) patients in a hospital may have unintended consequences. Robert Biron, CEO of the Cobourg’s Northumberland Hills Hospital, told the Central East…
The Lean Debate – A “Wicked Disease”
John Seddon, a British occupational psychologist, has been a lightning rod for Lean promoters (which he refers to as “tool-heads) over his criticism of Lean. Seddon bases his own work…
The safety and well-being of health care workers and patients is linked — report
The safety and well-being of health care workers may be much more closely linked to that of their patients a new report states. Developed in collaboration with three major U.S.…
Family Council Network Four launches long term care letter/petition campaign
Tired of broken promises on long-term care? The Family Council Four Network – the largest of Family Council Networks in Ontario – is organizing a letter writing/petition campaign to improve…
Edgewater Gardens: LTC Staffing cuts should be a red flag for Ministry, LHIN
We all remember former Health Minister George Smitherman tearfully promising a revolution in long-term care. That revolution never really happened. Now we’re beginning to wonder if what modest gains were…