The merger is off.
In a surprise move, the Toronto East General Hospital board pulled out of discussions with The Scarborough Hospital over a possible merger.
The hospital noted the lack of support by the Central East Local Health Integration Network for such a merger (see Friday’s BLOG story).
A $90,000 consultant’s report, initially to have been released to the public in March, was released on the TEGH web site Friday. The CEOs have had the report since February 17.
The consultant’s report does not make a recommendation regarding whether the hospitals should merge, but instead assesses risk and benefit.
While the report does suggest savings of as much $27.2 million, it admits that it was unable to look at the effects of wage harmonization, which would have a significant impact on the outcome. The combined budgets of the two hospitals is presently $590 million.
Much of the report suggests that core services could be protected in a merger, but that members of the community may have “to travel to receive them.”
The consultants also noted a lack of clarity with regards to the scope and expected benefit of such a merger.
OPSEU Diablogue 