A tale of two physiotherapists: Why professionals oppose competitive bidding in home care

Posted on February 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

Sharon and Jackie (not their real names) are experienced physiotherapists nearing retirement. Both do exactly the same public home care work within the region covered by the Champlain CCAC.

Sharon works in the Renfrew area. Jackie works within the City of Ottawa.

The two began their community physiotherapy work as municipal employees in 1992 and 1988 respectively.

When the CCACs were formed, the service transferred from the municipalities to the provincially-run centres. While that also meant transferring from an OMERS pension plan to a HOOP plan, the physiotherapists were told they would experience no actuarial loss. This turned out not to be true, and has been the subject of a lengthy court case about to enter its second decade.

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Drummond Report: Health care sectors get funding restraint… and a pony

Posted on February 15, 2012 | 2 comments

Don Drummond wants to provide every health care provider with their own pony while the system gets squeezed another notch tighter.

In his report released this week, the Commissioner on Public Sector reform wants to implement everything from increased salaries for the CEOs of the Local Health Integration Networks to triple the per capita spending on public health.

All this is to take place while restraining health care spending increases to 2.5 per cent per year – about half the funding increase from 2011.

Where the savings come from with all this new investment is not clear, nor is there an explanation on how so much can be done with so little. In fact, there is very little costing associated with any of these recommendations.

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Posted in CCAC, Health System, Home Care, Hospitals, Local Health Integration Networks

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Diablogue is now available in French

Posted on February 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

OPSEU’s popular health care BLOG will be presented in both official languages beginning this week. A project of OPSEU’s Health Care Divisional Council, the Diablogue is entering its third year providing on-going news and analysis about Ontario’s health system. Read by members, journalists, CEOs, politicians and policy-makers, Diablogue has become an important forum for both patients and providers. In the past key stories have been translated and posted on the SEFPO site. Now all postings will be available in both English and French.

To read Diablogue in French, click here.

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IMF cautions against severe austerity

Posted on February 15, 2012 | Leave a comment

Those working to preserve public services – including health care – may have found an unlikely ally in the IMF (International Monetary Fund).

After having pressed for severe cuts to public services in nations facing high public debt, the IMF is now cautioning that cutting too quickly may worsen the economic crisis.

This comes after weeks of dire predictions by Reform Commissioner Don Drummond, whose recommendations are due out today.

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Health Coalition hosts two free events in response to Drummond recommendations

Posted on February 14, 2012 | 2 comments

The Ontario Health Coalition is holding two events in response to the release of the Drummond Commission Report this week. About a quarter of the more than 400 recommendations are expected to deal with Ontario’s health care system.

The first event is an on-line webinar to take place Saturday, February 18 at 2 pm. The webinar is a live interactive briefing. Register on-line now and a confirmation e-mail will give you the details on how you can join. To register, click here.

The second event is an Emergency Assembly on Saturday, February 25 at 11 am, taking place at The Church of the Holy Trinity, 10 Trinity Square, Toronto. The church is located in behind the Eaton’s Centre near Indigo books.

There is no charge to attend either event.

For those coming from outside Toronto, a block of rooms has been booked at the Bond Place Hotel at Dundas and Yonge Streets. The special rate for this event is $89/night.  Call 1-800-268-9390 and let them know you are with the Ontario Health Coalition to book and receive this rate.

Agenda for meeting includes a briefing on Drummond’s recommendations, a half hour lunch (provided) and development of an action plan.

To register, contact the Ontario Health Coalition at ohc@sympatico.ca.

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Home care agencies, for-profits absent from disclosure

Posted on February 13, 2012 | 1 comment

The recent scandals at ORNGE showed how executives tried to use a series of for-profit companies within their non-profit structure to evade compensation disclosure.

For-profit companies do not have to disclose salaries under the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act. They can pay their CEOs whatever they like, and we have no right to access that information no matter how much public money is poured into that company.

As the government expands the use of private companies (both for-profit and not-for-profit) to deliver more public health care, the less we will know about how it is spent.

Speedboats and European MBAs anyone?

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Dr. Fonberg, Karma and Accountability

Posted on February 6, 2012 | 6 comments

It was with interest we saw Dr. Eric Fonberg’s name appear in the Toronto Star over the weekend. Fonberg, along with 10 other colleagues from York Central Hospital, had decided the best place to have a meeting about hospital “accountability” would be Boca Raton, Florida. We can hear the snickers from here.

Fonberg is better known to us as the former Chair of Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health. Fonberg served in that role while the hospital was undergoing a number of cost-saving service changes last year, including layoff of 28 child and youth workers employed in a unique and intensive program for hard-to-serve youth.

While the layoffs were originally described as “evidence-based,” the evidence didn’t hold up to scrutiny when a former employee of the Centre decided to dig a little deeper. In the end it wasn’t so much an evidence-based decision as a “me-too” decision, following the lead of other hospitals which equally lacked solid evidence in which to make their decision.

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New interim OHA CEO responsible for hospital amalgamations

Posted on February 2, 2012 | 1 comment

Mark Rochon is replacing Tom Closson as CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) – at least for now.

Rochon will fill the post until a permanent replacement his hired by the OHA Board of Directors.

Rochon comes from Toronto Rehab, where he served as CEO from 1998-2011. He also served as OHA Board Chair 2007-2008.

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Posted in Health System, Ontario Hospital Association

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New Video: Faces of Support – Making Ontario’s Hospitals run effectively

Posted on February 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

This new video looks behind the scenes at the contributions highly skilled support staff make to the daily running of a hospital. It is a big mistake to assume these individuals are expendable during times of austerity — experience tells us these workers are key to making hospitals both safe and efficient. Clearly from the stories they tell, what patients also value is a smile and someone who treats them with dignity. This video was shot last year at York Central Hospital in Richmond Hill and at the Kingston Hotel Dieu Hospital as a project of OPSEU’s Hospital Support Division.

Faces of Support (2012) 14 minutes – Featuring Jill McIlwraith (Chair, OPSEU Hospital Support Division), Warren “Smokey” Thomas (President, OPSEU).

Click here to watch the movie:

 

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Students: $1,000 bursary for best logo design

Posted on February 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

OPSEU’s Mental Health Division is awarding a bursary with a twist this year. Students intending to go on to post-secondary studies towards a career in mental health will be eligible to apply for a $1,000 bursary. The winner of the bursary will be decided by a logo design competition and an essay. For more details, click here.

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