Huronia District Hospital Supervisor’s Proposal – April 28, 2008

Background

Dr. Kevin Smith was appointed Supervisor of Huronia District Hospital (HDH) after the Board resigned in October 2007
His mandate as Supervisor is to resolve the governance issues at HDH
Since being appointed Dr. Smith has conducted extensive consultations in the community and region, and opened a confidential email address to hear comments and concerns

Findings

Dr. Smith heard of the great confidence and pride the citizens of the communities have about their hospitals, and of the great achievements of the North Simcoe Hospital Alliance (NSHA)
The community unanimously requested a solution that includes the following three points:

A secular hospital, and no loss of services in the community
A way to continue the Catholic healthcare mission and the legacy of its founders the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception
A permanent alternative to the Alliance to ensure hospital mergers do not have to be revisited

Proposal

With these three points in mind Dr. Smith is submitting the following proposal for the community’s consideration, a proposal which includes health system partners other than HDH:

To join the current HDH and PGH into a single entity that would be governed by a single, secular board of directors from the community and managed by a single Chief Executive Officer, continuing the sites and services currently offered
To use a Community Based Nominating Group to select Board members for the secular hospital based upon skill and ability. It is expected that that the membership of the Board will also reflect geographic and socio-linguistic communities
To divest the Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene (MHCP) regional programs to the Catholic Board of the current PGH, who would then govern the regional mental health facility, permitting the continued mission, vision and values of faith based health care
To engage the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in the governance and management of provincial maximum secure programs, currently housed in the Oak Ridge building, and have CAMH be a significant partner in the future redevelopment of Oak Ridge working with PGH
To ensure a strong relationship with respect to maximum secure forensic services and the local communities through a Community Advisory Committee to CAMH

Benefits

Feedback

Dr. Smith is looking for feedback on this proposal by Friday May 9, 2008 before submitting his report. Feedback can be submitted by email at hdhsupervisor@gmail.com or by recorded telephone message at 1-866-977- 3999. All feedback will be treated in strict confidence.
A video of Dr. Smith’s presentation will be available on April 29, 2008 on the NSHA website www.nsha.on.ca

The following chart details the Final State of the community’s healthcare facilities if Dr. Smith’s Proposal is implemented by Government:

Proposed Final State of Hospitals

HDH and PGH

Joined as single corporate entity, with two sites
Providing all services of the previously separate hospitals, in the same locations
Governed and managed by a single, secular Board chosen by a Community Based Nominating Group
Managed by a single CEO
Membership of the Board will also reflect geographic and socio-linguistic communities

MHCP

Provincial Maximum Secure Programs

Oak Ridge Building

Divested to CAMH, who will govern and manage the programs
Community Advisory Committee to advise CAMH of community issues
CAMH and Catholic Board of former PGH to collaborate on redevelopment of Oak Ridge