In Brief: Physiotherapy voodoo? / Funding freeze still on agenda / Caplan to return to cabinet?

Responding to articles in the Globe and Mail and New York Times that question the effectiveness of commonly used physiotherapy treatments, the Canadian Physiotherapy Association says there is scientific evidence to support the use of ice, heat and ultrasound in treating injuries.  The published stories suggested such modalities were “voodoo treatments.” …. Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews is not ruling out the possibility of a funding freeze for the province’s hospitals. Speaking to the Globe and Mail in December, Matthews said “I know that hospitals are really being challenged by it, but our fiscal reality is that we’ve got to really take a hard look at every dollar we spend.” Health executives quoted in the story say there is no room to cut without compromising patient care. OPSEU is maintaining a web site to allow the public to quickly communicate with their MPP on this issue.  Go to www.avoidingzero.ca  …  According to a local Ottawa newspaper, the Ottawa Hospital has frozen wages for non-union managers in anticipation of this year’s funding restraint. The Ottawa East EMC also reported Michel Bilodeau, CEO of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, as saying there is no room left for cuts. “There’s not much more we can do that does not affect patient care,” he said. “Anything we can think of would have to be taken over by the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto or parents would have to go to Montreal. Essentially, the health system would not save anything.”  …  Ken Tremblay, the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance CEO, is changing jobs. He will become the new CEO of Peterborough Regional Health Centre. Tremblay is notable for his controversial third-party review of the Quinte Health System in 2008. Tremblay ruffled feathers in the community when he called on local Mayors to resign from the board of QHC if they could not accept a plan that meant significant cuts to service. The political fall-out was intense. One wonders about the welcome from Peterborough’s present Mayor.  … Former Health Minister David Caplan is expected to be given a new cabinet post after resigning from the health portfolio last fall. His fall from grace was predicted in the June 27, 2008 edition of Dialogue. At the time, we stated “Caplan’s appointment comes at a time when many issues are coming to a head, leading some to suggest that he will become the fall guy for many unpopular decisions resulting from George Smitherman’s time at health.” With LHINs, P3 Hospitals, nursing homes scandals and community outrage over home care contracts all generating bad news, who would have predicted e-health to be the final straw that brought him down?  Having spent time in the penalty box, as the Toronto Star put it, Caplan is expected back.