How to reduce hospital deficit

February 3, 2010

(Editor’s note: This is a copy of a letter sent to the Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare board chair and chief executive officer.)

When I came to live in Huntsville in 1955 at the age of 15, I had little interest in the hospital. However, in the many years since, our hospital has become very important to my life and that of our family.

Now in our senior years it is imperative to us.

It used to be a quietly efficient hospital for the size of our town. I thought that the amalgamation of our area health care was a good idea. Now, it seems that I was wrong.

As a retired bookkeeper, who had a 40-year career in the business, I am well aware of profit, loss and balancing budgets. In my opinion, you are going the wrong way in trying to balance the budget of our hospitals.

My suggestions and questions:

1. By starting out cutting services, you are cutting our revenues, which is a huge error.

2. Start with management. Pare it back to the bone since most of your frontline staff in Huntsville are long-term employees who are professionals doing their job and do not need excessive monitoring.

3. Starting with the CEO and management staff, cut their salaries by five to 10 per cent first, then look to other savings, such as monitoring procedural invoicing.

4. Have your administrative departments, such as payroll and accounting, done centrally. We are in the computer and Internet age, making this cost effective.

5. Former CEOs used to be responsible for five separate budgets when Huntsville was a stand-alone hospital. Now there is only one budget and a big deficit. Why?

Venetia M.B. Woodruff

Huntsville