Relationship building with the LHINs
Health care providers have found religion when it comes to involving patients in the planning and decision-making process. At this year’s OHA HealthAchieve every administrator was quick to extol the…
Local Health Integration Networks
Greens leave out health care from their streamlined platform
The Greens had an in-depth party platform on health care in 2011. In this election they can barely bring themselves the say the word “health.” The only mention it gets…
Tory health platform review: Direct promise to scrap LHINs, CCACs missing
Curiously after months of saying they’ll do away with both the Local Health Integration Networks and the Community Care Access Centres, both direct promises are conspicuously absent from the formal…
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…
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…
Should the LHINs really be the e-Harmony of health care providers?
When the province decided to call its most recent crown agencies Local Health Integration Networks, it was clear where the emphasis lay. Rather than plan a system based on need,…
Will the Tories continue to play nice on the LHIN review?
The role of the Ontario Tories on the review of the Local Health Integration Networks is an interesting one to observe. Mandated by the legislation that created the Local Health…
Health Links attract huge audience at HealthAchieve
There was a kind of sliding sound and then a rattle as a woman fell to the floor during Tuesday afternoon’s session of the Ontario Hospital Association’s HealthAchieve. When someone…
Hospital governance not by necessity a ‘democratic process’ — investigator
Ontario’s public hospitals are private not-for-profit corporations. Most are built and operated with public money and sign accountability agreements with the provincially appointed Local Health Integration Networks. At any time…
A tangible response to physiotherapy cuts – the province finally adds community capacity
After significantly cutting outpatient physiotherapy at hospitals across Ontario, the government is finally putting something back. The Ministry of Health says it is making a major investment in community-based physiotherapy,…
Why health professionals increasingly don’t want to work in community agencies
The closure of eight downtown Toronto hospice beds is hardly creating buzz in the health care community. But it should. Perram House hospice is not big enough to warrant major…
A tale of two LHINs – Champlain could learn from Central East when it comes to community involvement
In the past few weeks we have been challenging the Champlain Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) to step up to the plate around cuts and transfers of services from The…
The Ottawa Hospital: Restructuring now called cutbacks?
Last week we were in Ottawa publicly challenging the Champlain Local Health Integration Network to treat service transfers from The Ottawa Hospital as an integration decision. There was a terrific…
If hospital cuts are restructuring, then let’s see the evidence
There is little question that a provincial freeze in base hospital operating funding is motivating the present shedding of staff positions and services across the province. Hospitals are required to…
Integration process missing from new round of hospital cuts
Local Health Integration Networks were purportedly created to bring health care planning, integration, accountability, and funding closer to the 14 regions they serve. A key role for the LHINs was…
No community involvement, details needed when cutting or transferring services to balance a budget
The Local Health Integration Networks were initially set up to involve communities in the decision-making process around delivery of regional health care. We have witnessed health care providers, such as…
Could this be a moment where the LHINs turnaround public perception?
Labour has long remained skeptical about the value of the Local Health Integration Networks. From the start the perception was the LHINs would be used to distance government from unpopular…
News of failed private endoscopy clinic coincides with hospital’s intent to divest more endoscopies
It shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone in Ottawa. When the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario finally released the list of private clinics that failed their inspection,…
De-integrating home support services in Ontario
Ontario has promised three million new hours of home care personal support services over the next three years. While it sounds like a lot, keep in mind that about 32…
The best of Diablogue in 2012
It’s time for us to take our seasonal break and wish the best of the season to all our readers and posters. Next year will be challenging for health care…