To the Editor:
Many years ago “assisted housing” in Ontario was run by Ontario Housing Corp. and was directly responsible to the Ministry of Housing. Housing was and always will be a touchy subject and the government did not like answering all the questions in the house, as most questions embarrassed them. To stop this embarrassment, they slowly introduced local housing authorities thus stopping the questions in the house and putting the cost of “assisted housing” on backs of municipal taxpayers.
Both the federal and provincial governments now put far less money into housing and we, the municipal taxpayer and our councils, take the rap for not providing social housing, not keeping it in good repair and having enormous waiting lists of residents who need housing.
It appears that this was such a good idea that “Fibber McGuinty” decided to do this in the Ministry of Health and thus created LHINs (Local Health Integration Networks). The Ministry of Health can now cut off answering questions and refer them to the appointed “health professional” who heads up the appropriate LHIN.
In the meantime, this extra layer of bureaucracy is costing us millions of dollars and the local hospital has to reduce its service to us, the residents who pay for them.
When an individual can classify himself as a “career health professional” and receive (I didn’t say earn) $351,000 for resigning, but can’t put in stitches or tell a cold from a flu then our money is being severely wasted.
This type of waste has reduced our health care in Almaguin by 90 per cent, caused many no end of hardship and the reductions were made with very little consultation and almost in a devious way.
It would now appear that the “Almaguin area” will have to go to court and fight the MAHC (Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare) for what is legitimately their health centre, including its furnishings and donated monies. Although this is taking money out of the health care system, we have to stand up to MAHC, its CEO and the Ministry of Health and tell them we have had enough.
We want our health care centre and our resources returned to us.
When (Barry) Monaghan states that management costs in the health care field are not too high, why does MAHC still have two human resources departments and two purchasing departments after four or five years (of amalgamation). Doesn’t the CEO have enough ability to correct this costly expenditure? I guess he just prefers to close things down!
Now that a Federal Liberal from Toronto is rooting around Burk’s Falls and looking into rural health care isn’t it time that Tony “Not My Job” Clement started giving Almaguin the support it deserves from its MP?
Some points to ponder.
K.H. Jorgensen
Burk’s Falls