A new study shows that one third of Ontario’s hospitals are in the red.

The figures, released by the Ministry of Health, show that 61 of the province’s 159 public hospitals had deficits at the end of March. N-D-P health critic France Gelinas says hospitals will have to cut services and staff to balance their books, and that’s not good news for anyone.

The deficit at Cambridge Memorial Hospital is $5-million and the province has appointed a supervisor to help balance the books. Across Ontario, the hospitals with the biggest shortfalls included the Niagara Health System with a nearly $19-million deficit. and Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children which had a nearly $13-million dollar deficit.

“I have taken this action to start us down a path of restoring confidence in Cambridge Memorial Hospital,” said Mr. Martin.

Mr. Patrick Gaskin has been appointed Acting President and CEO of the hospital. Mr. Gaskin has been a senior level health care administrator for the past 17 years. Most recently, he was Integrated Vice President, Planning & Operational Improvement at London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care, London. Prior to that, Patrick worked for Grand River Hospital in Kitchener for nine years in various roles including Vice President, Executive Vice President and Acting President & CEO.

Cambridge Memorial Hospital’s Board of Directors remains in place and will function in an advisory capacity to the Supervisor. They will re-assume their full governance responsibility and accountabilities when the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care decides it is appropriate to end Mr. Martin’s appointment.

Murray Martin, President and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences, will take appropriate action on recommendations relating to the governance and management of the hospital outlined in the Cambridge Memorial Hospital Operational Review Report February-May 2009.

As supervisor, Mr. Martin will assume full powers of the hospital board, the corporation, its officers and members of the corporation. In his role, he will work closely with senior hospital officials and the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network (WWLHIN).

Murray Martin will report directly to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care and will make his first visit to CMH in his role as Supervisor on September 11.

CAMBRIDGE, ON – Today, the Cambridge Memorial Hospital (CMH) Operational Review Team provided an update to the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network (WWLHIN) Board of Directors at their Open Session. The WWLHIN appointed the team in March of this year to work with CMH’s Senior Administrative Team and Board of Governors to support their efforts to continue to provide high quality care, while sustaining the community hospital through fiscal challenges. The purpose of the Team was to conduct a comprehensive review enabling CMH to develop a Hospital Improvement Plan (HIP) for the hospital.

The WWLHIN Board had planned to receive the Team’s Final Report at today’s meeting. Due to a number of factors, the Draft Report was presented to both the WWLHIN and Cambridge Memorial Hospital a little later in the process than anticipated. Late last week, CMH requested an extension to their timeline to review the Draft Report and provide comment to the Operational Review Team. The WWLHIN Board agreed to honour the request and postponed the release of the Final Report until Tuesday, June 30, 2009.

Operational Review Team Lead Vickie Kaminski outlined the process to date, best practices and next steps. All members of the Operational Review Team were in attendance. In addition to Kaminski, Chief Executive Officer, Hôpital régional de Sudbury Regional Hospital (HRSRH), the core team also includes Sue Matthews, Vice President Patient Services and Chief Nursing Executive, Niagara Health System; Paul Temple, Principal, Front End Solutions (Waterloo) and; Ken Tremblay, President and CEO, Chatham-Ken Health Alliance.

As part of their process, the Review Team conducted a series of meetings with hospital senior leaders, doctors, staff, board members as well as representatives from other local health care organizations. Team members also reviewed data related to hospital finances, board activities, patient care activities and performance reports.

The Final Report and the Team’s findings will be presented to the WWLHIN Board of Directors and the community at a Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, June 30, 2009.

QUOTES

“The WWLHIN is committed to working in partnership with Cambridge Memorial Hospital to support a strong and sustainable hospital for Cambridge and area residents,” said Kathy Durst, Chair, WWLHIN Board. “We know that this Review has been of great interest to the local community and we thank local residents for their continued patience as the hospital provides input to the Team and as they develop their Hospital Improvement Plan.”

“We are still committed to making the report public,” said Sandra Hanmer, CEO, WWLHIN. “We have confirmed with CMH that Ms. Kaminski will present the team’s findings and Final Report to the WWLHIN Board and community at a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, June 30. This will provide an opportunity for community members to ask questions about the report and the Team’s findings.”

“The hospital and the WWLHIN have been actively involved in identifying efforts that will support health care services here so it’s important for us to work collaboratively on developing that plan and addressing acute-care services and financial realities,” says CMH Board Chair John Bell.

Bell said he is looking forward to the two Boards meeting on June 30 to begin the implementation of a recovery plan and to move forward on initiatives that will lead to the sustainability of health care excellence at CMH.

Julia Dumanian, President and CEO, Cambridge Memorial Hospital, says the hospital is committed to working with its partner organizations in Waterloo Wellington to provide integrated patient centred care.

“We have a great future as a progressive acute care hospital and teaching facility in this rapidly growing community,” says Dumanian.

QUICK FACTS

On July 28, 2008, CMH entered into a Hospital Service Accountability Agreement (H-SAA) with the WWLHIN. The H-SAA outlines patient care delivery targets, and funding allocations for the two year agreement. At the time of signing the H-SAA, CMH agreed to manage an in-year deficit of approximately $1.5 million.

In November 2009, the hospital administrative team forecasted a $3.5 million deficit for the 2008 – 2009 fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2009. It was also predicting a further deficit of up to $3 million for 2009 -2010. The hospital’s budget for 2008/2009 is approximately $103.4 million.

The H-SAA requires hospitals to meet a number of performance obligations including patient care delivery targets and achievement of balanced budgets for two fiscal years, 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. This is the first time hospitals negotiated their service accountability agreements with LHINs, previously this was done with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The H-SAA outlines the hospital’s budget, performance targets and commitment to work with the LHIN.

An Affiliated Teaching Site of McMaster University School of Medicine, Cambridge Memorial Hospital is a 155-bed, acute care hospital serving the communities of Cambridge, North Dumfries, Doon and Deer Ridge. With 1,500 dedicated and skilled employees and 400 volunteers, the hospital’s 2008-2009 vital statistics include: 57,824 patient days; 88,866 diagnostic procedures; 61,106 outpatient visits; 46,079 emergency department visits; 12,185 surgical cases; 2,686 breast screenings; 1,476 births; 1,328 cataract surgeries; and 395 hip/knee replacements.

The Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network is responsible for planning, integrating, coordinating and providing funding to 79 health service providers including hospitals, long-term care homes, community support services, community health centres, the Community Care Access Centre and community mental health and addictions agencies in Waterloo Region, Wellington County and South Grey. The WWLHIN operates an annual health care budget of close to $858 million.

LEARN MORE

Information on the Operational Review is posted to the WWLHIN website at www.wwpartnersinhealth.ca

Cambridge Memorial Hospital website www.cmh.org

Attachment: Operational Review Team Lead Presentation

For additional information contact:

Toni Adey
Manager, Public Affairs
WWLHIN
519-822-6208, Ext. 223

Alan Clay
Manager, Public Affairs & Communications
Cambridge Memorial Hospital
519-621-2333, Ext. 2483

Cambridge Memorial working to improve ER quality – Hospital to work with partners to implement recommendations

(Cambridge, ON) – Cambridge Memorial Hospital President & Chief Executive Officer, Julia Dumanian, today committed the hospital’s resources to resolving the issues raised in the Ontario’s government report on the situation in Emergency Rooms in Southwestern Ontario. This report, headed by the former CEO of the University Health Network, Tom Closson, reviewed the pressures and responses in ERs in Waterloo region.

“We are pleased to see the quality of service we provide to the 135,000 people of our community reflected in this report,” said Ms. Dumanian. “The excellence of our nursing staff as well as our innovative responses to the needs of older patients and those with mental health concerns were well-documented by Mr. Closson and his team.”

“The staff of Cambridge Memorial have long recognized that there are pressures on our ERs so it is gratifying to see them identified in this report and acknowledged as issues facing many hospitals in our region and throughout Ontario,” said Dr. Cathy Morris, Chief of Staff.

The provincial report examined the ER situation in Waterloo region against the backdrop of the situation in hospitals throughout the province. It contains 12 recommendations for Cambridge Memorial Hospital. “We intend to re-evaluate workflows in our ER and work with the newly-initiated Local Health Integration Network and our Community Care Access Centres and community health care providers to make care more seamless,” said Dennis Watson, Vice-Chair of the hospital’s Board of Governors. “Equally as important, we intend to work closely with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to resolve impediments – fiscal and human resources, to needed improvements,” he concluded.

About Cambridge Memorial Hospital
Founded in 1888, the Hospital helps 1,500 women give birth each year, replaces 555 hips and knees to enable people to become more mobile, screens 2,800 women a year for breast cancer and performs more than 76,000 diagnostic tests and almost 12,000 essential surgeries. It manages to do this with a budget of under $100 million and less than 1,200 staff. The hospital’s ER sees 40,000 patients a year.

NEED MORE INFORMATION?
CONTACT:

Chris Sellers
Manager, Public Affairs and Communications

Tel: 519-621-2333 ext. 2483
Fax: 519-740-4938
E-mail: csellers@cmh.org