Health & Fitness

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Two councillors from each of Huron-Kinloss and Kincardine councils have been selected to join four members of the Friends of the Kincardine Hospital on a liaison committee to open the lines of communication on hospital governance and management practices, with the South Bruce Grey Health Centre board.

The board is in charge of hospitals in Kincardine, Walkerton, Chesley and Durham, and has been criticized by the Friends for not being open and transparent on decisions affecting the stakeholders of the Kincardine hospital. The Friends commissioned a report by an independent consultant on the governance and management practices at the hospital which was presented to the board in May.

At a meeting June 24 amongst Kincardine and Huron-Kinloss councils and the Friends, it was agreed to form a liaison committee to work with the hospital board to improve communication and other issues pertaining to health care in Kincardine.

Kincardine councillors Marsha Leggett and Ron Hewitt, along with Huron-Kinloss mayor Mitch Twolan and councillor Anne Eadie have been appointed to sit on this liaison committee with four members of the Friends group.

Kincardine's deputy mayor Laura Haight suggested maybe the group should get the stakeholders from all four hospital centres involved, including Walkerton, Chesley and Durham.

Councillor Ron Hewitt said the group should meet first and decide how to proceed.

At the June 24 tripartite meeting, the Friends referred to new legislation put forward by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, called the "Excellent Care for All Act 2010."

It focuses on a vision for the province where excellent health care services are available to all Ontarians, where professions work together, and where patients are confident that their health care system is providing them with excellent care.

The health centre board will be required to appoint a quality committee based on the new legislation. It also calls for the chief executive officer to no longer have voting privileges and for a reduction in the size of the hospital board, which the South Bruce Grey Health Centre has already done.

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Thursday, July 22, 2010