LHIN Review: Unifying a system, dividing a community
You have to feel a little bit for the MPPs that are sitting on the all-party Standing Committee on Social Policy. Somehow in the sweet victory of election night it…
opseudiablogue
LHINs should integrate with the Ministry of Health — Thomas
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas appears before the Standing Committee on Social Policy this morning in Kingston. The Queen’s Park Committee, made up of MPPs from all three parties, is…
The OHA makes it okay to talk about overcrowding
The Ontario Hospital Association may have made it okay to talk about hospital overcrowding. As we noted January 27, the OHA has been asking the province to look at capacity…
Bob Rae asks why Health Canada is taking so long to say no to paid plasma donations
In 2013 Health Canada held a by-invitation-only roundtable on the issue of paid plasma donations following our efforts to raise concerns over the application by the private Canadian Plasma Resources…
CCACs not entirely to blame for high home care administrative costs
What to do with the Community Care Access Centres? Yesterday’s Toronto Star column by Bob Hepburn suggests we should roll them into the Local Health Integration Networks and send the…
CCAC CEOs may not have enjoyed their cornflakes this morning
You would think the Community Care Access Centres would tread a little carefully these days. The Tories want to get rid of them. The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario would…
Picard blames health professionals for slow pace of “reform”
How can we improve Canada’s health system? Blaming the professionals who deliver care defies logic. You may be very surprised to learn that one prominent journalist says the biggest obstacles…
NHH certified diabetes educators really do exist despite hospital denials
It’s one thing not to be acknowledged for the work you do. It’s quite another when your hospital says you don’t do that work at all. Northumberland Hills Hospital (NHH)…
The real deficit and the phoney one
Economist Hugh Mackenzie has written two recent BLOG posts on the phoney deficit and the real one — the deficit in public services Ontarians rely upon. The Behind The Numbers…
OANHSS calls for $135.4 million to cope with aggressive behaviours in Ontario’s nursing homes
Watching a sampling of presentations to the province’s all-party standing committee looking at the upcoming spring budget, many organizations are couching their language in the context of ongoing fiscal restraint.…
Social Determinants: $11 an hour simply not enough
As health care providers news of the increase in minimum wage is important – as we stated in 2013, poverty is the second leading cause of death in this country.…
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…
Briefs: The Scarborough Hospital looking for $6.8 million in savings with or without merger
The Rouge Valley Health System and The Scarborough Hospital officially filed notification to the Local Health Integration Network of their intent to merge, but it doesn’t mean hard times are…
Matthews promises to improve PSW compensation — but it will take time
There may soon be good news for the province’s personal support workers. “When PSWs tell me they can make more at Tim Horton’s, I sit up and take notice,” Health…
OHA asks for capacity planning but attacks rights of transferred workers
The Ontario Hospital Association must be finally feeling the pinch of fiscal restraint and so-called “funding reforms” that have worked against their bottom line for at least the past four…
New jobs prohibited by one-time funding
Some good news and some bad news. The good news is many health care providers in the Central East LHIN (and likely others) will receive substantial increases in funding, some…
More than a third of Canadian physicians still without EMRs
When a drug recall takes place, does your family doctor have the ability to identify which patients are on that drug and notify them in a timely manner? For more…
Scrouge Hospital told to start talking to Lakeridge about capital planning
Robert Biron quietly came into the Central East LHIN board meeting and sat as a spectator. The CEO of the Scarborough Hospital silently left the room again after the LHIN…
Some updates on stories you have been following in Diablogue
Some updates on recent stories in the Diablogue… We’ve been trying to assess in recent weeks how many of the 100 long-term care inspectors Health Minister Deb Matthews promised in…
Want direct front line input into health planning? How about whistleblower protection?
A few years ago we were in discussion with the Central East Local Health Integration Network about the idea of having a number of consultative committees made up of unionized…