Tag Archives: Pat Campbell

Province needs to look at evidence around hospital mergers

Murray Martin should change his name to Dr. Doom.

Now in retirement, the former CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences is full of swagger about tough choices for health care, suggesting rising interest rates would pressure the government into making big cuts if they don’t make significant adjustments now.

Never mind that the Bank of Canada’s benchmark interest rate of 1 per cent has not budged since 2010. Changing interest rates also take considerable time to work through the system before they impact the rate the government pays on its bond debt. It’s not like the sky is about to fall.

Speaking at a Longwood’s speaker series earlier this week, the Toronto Star reports Martin as promoting BC’s approach – “we are going to make this change, you’ve got three options and if you don’t like any of them that’s too bad.”

Whatever happened to evidence-based decision-making?

Martin wildly believes the province should force more hospital mergers to find savings — this just days after the Scarborough-Rouge Valley hospital merger came to a screeching halt over the high cost of such a merger.

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OHA silent about sudden departure of CEO and President

Pat, we hardly knew you.

A year after being appointed OHA CEO and President, Pat Campbell has mysteriously disappeared from the OHA.

In a remarkably short announcement June 12, the OHA notes that its Board of Directors has appointed former Mike Harris aide Anthony Dale as their interim President and CEO effective immediately.

It has been a rocky road for Campbell.

This spring she looked less than stellar in responding to the CBC’s Rate My Hospital program.

The same month former OHA CEO Tom Closson publicly disagreed with her interpretation of the Quality of Care Information Act after the Humber River Regional Hospital mistakenly declared a newborn baby dead and claimed the results of their investigation had to be kept secret.

In May the OHA was uncharacteristically snippy about the provincial budget, complaining both about the lack of planning and the refusal of the Wynne government to rig the arbitration process in favour of the hospitals.

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OHA snippy about lack of health care planning

Last week’s provincial budget was accompanied by an uncharacteristic snippy release from the Ontario Hospital Association expressing disappointment.

While OHA CEO Pat Campbell says there are a few positive initiatives for hospitals and the health care system, the chief complaint is over the lack of a comprehensive capacity plan.

That’s likely a fancy way of saying the government is cutting the heck out of us, putting some of that money elsewhere, and hoping it all balances out okay. If we are looking for any more sophistication than that from government, we’re likely to be disappointed.

Health Minister Deb Matthews has repeatedly said that downsizing hospitals in favor of more community based care is the plan. In the budget they go as far as listing endoscopies, dialysis and vision care as the next wave of services to be divested to not-for-profit clinics, even if no evidence is presented on costs.

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Hospitals: Who is earning more than the $418,000 proposed BPS salary cap?

The Ontario Hospital Association is disappointed again.

This week Dwight Duncan announced the government’s intention to cap salaries for new employees in the broader public sector – including hospitals – to $418,000 a year, or double Dalton McGuinty’s salary.

The idea had gained some traction in the last election when the NDP proposed it as a way of reining in rising executive salaries in the broader public sector.

The OHA issued a release this week in which they used the 2010 public sector salary disclosure to show that only 77 of the 207,000 people employed by Ontario’s hospitals earned more than $418,000 per year. Assuming those folks were rolled back to double the Premier’s salary (which Duncan is NOT proposing) it would save $4.7 million. If applied to all BPS employers, it would amount to $7.3 million.

Given it only applies to new employees, the University Health Network’s Bob Bell, for example, would get to hang on to his almost $754,000 earned in 2011.

“This is another example of the Government of Ontario and legislators devaluing the work and skills of hospital leaders, and those who lead Ontario’s vital BPS organizations,” the OHA said in the release.

Obviously OHA President and CEO Pat Campbell trotted out the 2010 figures because they happened to be on hand from last year’s response to the NDP campaign pledge. We actually took a look at the 2011 disclosure and found one less body in the more than “double the Dalton” club. However, with all those registered nurses barely creeping into the sunshine list, it would be easy to overlook a couple of high flyers.

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Campbell named OHA CEO and President

Pat Campbell has been named the new president and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association.

Campbell most recently served as CEO of Echo, an agency whose goal is to collaborate with health partners and conduct research to improve women’s health.

She may be more familiar to OPSEU members as the past President and CEO of Grey Bruce Health Services.

Campbell will take up her role June 4 and replace interim OHA President Mark Rochon.