The Erie-St. Clair LHIN is contracting out four studies to look at hospital operations with a possible eye to further consolidation of services and changes to the staff mix.
The five hospitals have issued a joint RFP today for private consultants to review support services, clinical support services, staff roles and responsibilities, and consolidated health information services.
Claiming it is too early to speculate about the impact on jobs, the studies are intended to identify areas where there may be opportunities for additional cost savings and areas where these hospitals have room to improve performance.
Funding for the reviews will be provided by the Erie St. Clair LHIN.
The four reviews include:
Clinical Support Services — The review will look at how the five hospitals manage their diagnostic imaging, laboratory and pharmacy services. The five hospitals are seeking a “recommendation on potential shared service agreements that support substantial diagnostic imaging, laboratory and pharmacy services.” The review will also be looking at standardization of these services, including consistent measures of performance.
Staff Roles and Responsibilities – This review will look at the current staff mix, including professional and non-professional designations. The consultants are to include costs related to transitioning to the new staffing mix and any impacts related to economies of scale. Looking at trends across the province, this could include replacing laboratory technologists with point-of-care nurse testing, or replacing RNs with RPNs. Interesting enough, the CEO is exempt from this review.
Support Services – This is probably the most sweeping review with the most overt reference to integration and economies of scale, suggesting this may be the greatest target for consolidation within the five hospitals. The scope includes such diverse functions as food services, laundry, finance, housekeeping, human resources, information/education, communications, transportation, organizational development, admitting, health records, translation and physical plant.
Consolidated Health Information Services – Unlike the other reviews, this one involves drafting a five year strategic plan for CHIS including identifying key factors required to achieve an electronic health record. With Bluewater, Windsor Regional and the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance already members, CHIS will likely include both the Leamington and Hotel Dieu Grace Hospitals within a year.
In a memo issued March 22, the hospital CEOs stated “by looking at these areas collectively we can control costs associated with doing similar work independently.”
Having already merged their supply chain functions into one central non-profit organization – PROcure Supply Chain Solutions — the studies will likely include an assessment of whether the hospitals can consolidate other services to save money.
“These studies will help the hospitals analyze opportunities to increase efficiency, improve quality of services and ensure we are positioning all five hospitals for greater financial stability,” the hospital CEOs memo states.
The studies will be led by a Steering Committee made up of senior staff from each of the hospitals and from the LHIN. They include:
– Mike Lapaine, Bluewater Health
– Anthony DiCaita, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance
– Sue Gibson, Hotel Dieu Grace Hospital
– Sarah Padfield, Leamington District Memorial Hospital
– Dan Germain, Windsor Regional Hospital
– Claudia denBoer-Grima, Integrated VP, WRH-HDGH
– Steve Banyai, CEO of Consolidated Health Information Services
– Brad Keeler, Erie-St. Clair LHIN
OPSEU Diablogue 
Why do they always have money for Consultants and LHINS who have not had any direct patient care yet we are struggling to keep patient services?
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Why, oh why don’t these commisions and committees ever think to include union or worker reps? Do they think we have nothing to offer?
It has always bothered me that union people are by definition barred from the board of any LHIN.