York Central Hospital doctors hold retreat – in Florida
February 4, 2012
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Theresa Boyle
HEALTH REPORTER
At a time when the provincial government is planning to shake up the health system to eke out more value from every taxpayer dollar, 11 doctors from York Central Hospital have travelled to Florida for a retreat.
The chief of staff of the Richmond Hill hospital and chiefs of 10 departments held a meeting in Boca Raton on Thursday and Friday, paid for out of the hospital budget.
Hospital spokesperson Melina Cormier confirmed the meeting, explaining the physicians gathered to discuss enhancing the clinical management of the hospital’s medical services.
When asked why doctors didn’t meet locally, she said: “Our experience has shown that conference retreats are extremely helpful in terms of team building and perspective. It also helps when you take people off site to ensure the focus in on the strategic objectives of the conference.”
Cormier did not know how much was spent on the trip, but said funds came from an annual stipend for professional development.
“The annual stipend covers the cost of professional development and they can use these monies to attend professional development events separately or together,” she said. “This year they chose to seek their professional development together so they can collective focus on enhancing the quality of care here at the hospital.”
She declined to name the hotel they were staying at for “privacy reasons” and said she did not know if spouses attended.
Among the issues discussed at the meeting, according to a copy of the agenda, was “accountability.” A guest speaker, the chief medical officer of health of the Boca Raton Regional Hospital, was to talk about “pay for performance.”
Linda Haslam-Stroud, president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association, was stunned to learn of the getaway and said it’s “absolutely demoralizing” for nurses who are struggling to work at the hospital with limited resources.
She said there have been problems getting hot water to certain areas of the hospital and nurses have had to boil water to bathe newborns and new mothers. Cormier denied there were any hot-water problems.
As well, Haslam-Stroud said nurses who call in sick are not replaced because of budgetary reasons, leaving units short-staffed.
“It’s a sad day for our patients when taxpayers’ money and health-care funding dollars are being spent frivolously,” she said.
Progressive Conservative MPP and health critic Elizabeth Witmer said this is another example of poor oversight of the health system by the provincial government.
“Whether it’s eHealth, ORNGE or (hospital CEO) entitlements, this government is simply not providing the oversight that is necessary to put out the message that we need to do away with this type of spending. We need to make sure that health spending is focused on patient care and frontline services,” she said.
“They tell us they need to reduce health spending,” Witmer said, referring to a soon-to-be released report by economist Don Drummond, who will be making recommendations on slashing government spending. He is expected to take special aim at the health system.
“With the Drummond report on the horizon, the average person looking for a job in Ontario would be infuriated that this was paid for out of the public purse,” said NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo.
“It’s ridiculous. This is a time when they just closed Ontario Place, people are losing jobs right, left and centre,” DiNovo added.
Health Minister Deb Matthews was not available for comment.
Theresa Boyle can be contacted at tboyle@thestar.ca or (416)869-4915.
York Central Hospital medical chiefs at Florida retreat
All doctors are members of the hospital's medical advisory committee
Dr. Eric Fonberg, Chief of Staff
Dr. John Barrett, Chief, Obstetrics & Gynecology
Dr. Brian Berger, Chief, Continuing Care & Rehab
Dr. Victoria Chan, Chief, Medicine
Dr. John Doucet, Chief, Pathology
Dr. Jeff Weisbrot, Chief, Pediatrics
Dr. Indy Ghosh, Chief, Emergency Medicine
Dr. Stanley Herman, Chief, Anaesthesia
Dr. Philip Solomon, Chief, Surgery
Dr. Nicholas Voudouris, Chief, Family Practice
Dr. Peter Zelina, Chief, Psychiatry