Councillors criticized the board for being ambiguous about telling the Minister that there is no community support for a single hospital model and removing that option from the table. They also criticized what they referred to as the board’s lack of transparency, they questioned who the board is really accountable to and pointed at the fact that it had not rescinded the motion it passed in 2015 calling for a single hospital model, despite assurances that it had turned a new chapter.
Huntsville Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano, who seconded the resolution, said it was “intended as a message that the board’s governance model is in question, their accountability and responsibility to our community is in question, the board has a HIP (Hospital Improvement Plan) agreement that recommends surgery today in Bracebridge and that’s a concern. We’re six years into a process that appears to have been neglectful of this community’s wishes and the lack of trust does not seem to be reversible.”
Others echoed her sentiment and although the Chair of the board, Evelyn Brown, in an apparent change of stance, told council and those who packed the Algonquin Theatre on Monday night that the board welcomed a unified front with municipal representatives to ask the Province to reexamine its funding formula, one that has resulted in hospital deficits year after year, her assurances seemed for many to be too little too late.
“It seems like they’ve come to the end game a little too late for my comfort level,” said Huntsville Councillor Brian Thompson.
During the meeting with board members and input from the community, Councillor Dan Armour questioned whether MAHC should be expected to be neutral, to which Brown answered, “I should hope so.” Yet, continued Armour, MAHC’s Chief of Staff has indicated that surgeries should be conducted in Bracebridge, a comment that he said does not lead to the building of trust. Brown said she had not heard that comment, “but I believe that is someone’s opinion. It’s not a statement by the board,” she added.
In another exchange, Councillor Jonathan Wiebe noted that resources have been expended by the task force appointed by the board to study and recommend a future hospital model for the area but questioned whether their focus shouldn’t be on the funding formula itself. “I’m just worried that all that work is really just a waste of time if the funding isn’t there and we can’t go forward anyway.”
Brown responded by referring to that task force’s work as one of two streams attached at the hip. She said the redevelopment of the hospital model can take several years “and so as we continue to fight for medium-sized hospitals in towns like ours, we will still be refining a model that hopefully over the next reasonable… time frame, that the funding formula will be changed because it is being advocated right across the province,” she assured.
But her response did not seem to allay fears that at least a majority of the hospital board continues to favour the creation of one hospital to replace the existing two.
Harold Featherston, Chief Executive Diagnostics, Ambulatory Planning with MAHC perhaps put it more succinctly. “The task force’s responsibility is to pick the model that we think best serves this community in the long-term and then we need to figure out how to make it happen. So that’s where those two conversations continue to intersect, but it’s also where you can help us,” he told council, adding that it is not the task force’s job to fix the funding formula. “That’s not going to happen with local volunteers in the community. It’s not going to happen with an individual board, it’s not going to happen with a really passionate CEO, much of this happens on the political side of things and you’re much better at this stuff than we are. So, the work you’ve been doing on those fronts, and we’re talking about going together with you to help advocate for that, is going to help set us up for the future way better than we are today and that’s where these two conversations come together.”
But conspicuously missing from the presentations that evening, especially at a time when MAHC’s financial future is at stake, was the hospital’s Chief Financial Officer. Doppler caught up with Brown who left after the presentations, shortly before council voted on a non-confidence resolution that evening. We asked what had happened to former CFO Tim Smith. Brown said he had retired and been replaced with a new CFO by the name of Terry Shields. Brown said Shields comes to the area from a similar position in Windsor. That community underwent a similar situation when two hospitals amalgamated following a realignment of services. “I think in Windsor it was particularly contentious,” said Brown.
Shield was hired with very little fanfare, although Brown said a press release had been issued.
Meanwhile, inside the theatre council continued discussing the motion before it. Councillor Nancy Alcock said the hospital board’s lack of transparency continued to be an issue for her and Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison made it clear that the results of passing the motion would be uncertain. He said the Province, currently in the midst of an election campaign, might ignore it. They could send an investigator in and ultimately a supervisor or they may respond and tell council to keep working with the board.
“At the end of the day that really is the challenge before us. Do we think we have a better chance of effecting the kind of change and outcome we want by passing a resolution calling on the Minister to dismiss the board and then going and dealing directly with the Minister or the Ministry of Health or potentially a designate that they send here?” He said like many councillors he too was hoping for more definitive answers. “Specifically, I didn’t think it was a difficult thing to commit to at least speaking to the board about rescinding that 2015 motion [calling for a single hospital model],” he said.
I tell you honestly, I’m a fairly confident individual and I usually don’t have a problem speaking my mind and telling you what I think and sometimes I can be a bit obnoxious about it, but I’m really quite fearful for this whole situation and I worry that if we just continue to just keep talking, there’s a part of me, that cynical part of me that thinks they’re doing it on purpose because they want us to just keep talking until they steal everything away…HUNTSVILLE MAYOR SCOTT AITCHISON
He said whether the municipality has a better chance with the appointment of a supervisor rather than dealing with the hospital board is a question that has kept him up at nights.
In the end all of council except Councillor Bob Stone who said the task force should be given time to come up with its recommendation and said he had no substantive evidence that the board was acting in an untoward manner, voted in favour of the resolution to dissolve the board and forward the same to the Minister and area municipalities.
BY TAMARA DE LA VEGA ON