Doctors to reimburse hospital for Florida retreat
February 6, 2012
Comments on this story
(4)
Alyshah Hasham
STAFF REPORTER
The 11 medical chiefs sent to a Florida retreat on York Central Hospital’s dime have agreed to reimburse their travel and accommodation expenses, said hospital board chair Dina Palozzi Sunday.
“They regretted the optics associated with the location of the conference,” she said after a conversation with hospital chief of staff Dr. Eric Fonberg.
“It was an unfortunate mistake they planned the conference together and in Florida,” she said.
However, York Central will review its policies on physician expenses to match the industry best practices, possibly establishing an approval process for out-of-province travel beyond the chief of staff’s office, said Palozzi.
The board is satisfied that matter has been addressed, she said.
The Star reported Saturday that the hospital budget financed a two-day Boca Raton “conference retreat” for the chief of staff of the Richmond Hill hospital and chiefs of 10 departments.
It was originally funded through a stipend for professional development that is included in the contracts of the medical chiefs – a form of compensation, said Palozzi.
Linda Haslam-Stroud, president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association, said “it’s unbelievable to me that this kind of thing can happen when we’re trying on the front lines to provide quality.”
“They got caught and now they’re agreeing to reimburse the funds,” she said.
“Maybe they learned about accountability down there.”
The agenda listed “accountability” as one of the items under discussion at the conference on enhancing the clinical management of the hospital’s medical services.
Haslam-Stroud said she is pleased the expense policies will be reviewed.
“They have limited taxpayer dollars to invest in the best way possible for the patients. The hospital dropped the ball totally on this,” she said.
This incident comes as the province plans to scour the heath-care system for ways to wring more value out of taxpayer dollars.
An upcoming report from economist Don Drummond on cutting government spending is expected to target the heath care system in particular.
The system has recently taken flak for the perks and bonuses given to hospital executives, including $75,000 travel allowances and bonuses of more than $500,000 a year.
With files from Theresa Boyle
Featured Sponsored Listings