Current president and CEO Jerome Quenneville will not be part of a new “integrated governance” structure between the two boards in charge of three Wellington hospitals.
On Dec. 9 the board of directors for Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus and North Wellington Health Care (NWHC), which operates hospitals in Palmerston and Mount Forest, announced a new integration agreement, effective April 1.
“The two hospital boards believe that this form of integrated governance is in the best interest of the communities served by the two organizations, across three hospital sites and that we are stronger together,” states a press release from NWHC chair Tom Sullivan and Groves chair Howard Dobson.
“We also believe that it will further our partnerships with other health care provides including family health teams, CCAC (Community Care Access Centre) and the Canadian Mental Health Association.”
The agreement, which requires the approval of the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), delegates decision-making authority to a joint executive committee consisting of five representatives from each hospital board.
That’s “the key difference,” Dobson said on Dec. 10, explaining a similar committee already exists but does not have any decision making abilities.
The committee will oversee “quality of patient care and resource utilization,” while the two hospital boards will be in charge of medical staff, material clinical changes, and relationships with foundations and volunteer auxiliary organizations.
Sullivan agreed “empowerment”
of the executive committee to make certain decisions is a key change. He also noted the new committee will have a number of independent directors.
“They are completely independent of the hospital,” he said.
“They don’t have any political affiliation, they’re not employees, they’re not affiliated with anything that would cause them to have their judgement clouded … they are completely focused on the corporation.”
Sullivan said the inclusion of a “robust” dispute resolution mechanism is also integral to the agreement.
“If we do get into a dispute we’ve got a way of resolving it without involving the LHIN really,” he explained.
However, Sullivan noted working toward a more integrated governance system has already got the boards working more cooperatively.
“We’ve grown a bit … organizationally were working a whole lot better as a team than we were before. We’ve kind of got some common goals and the relationship between the two organizations is greatly improved.”
Also announced in the Dec. 9 press release is the departure of Quenneville, who has served as president and CEO of both hospital boards since 2007.
Sullivan and Dobson stated Quenneville decided not to renew his contract when it expires on March 10 “as he believes that it is in the best interest” of the hospital board alliance.
“We know that this was a difficult decision for Jerome and we admire his wish to provide NWHC and (Groves) with the flexibility to appoint a new CEO,” states the press release.
Quenneville’s contract was part of an ongoing dispute between the two boards that led LHIN official Gloria Cardoso earlier this year to call the partnership “fractured and dysfunctional.”
Sullivan told the Advertiser in August that both hospital boards had previously agreed to let Quenneville’s contract expire but the Groves board didn’t ratify the decision as did NWHC.
“They changed their mind, and not only that, they unilaterally hired the CEO – they hired the CEO as their sole employee beginning at the expiration of his current contract with us both,” he said at the time.
Dobson said on Dec. 10 that is not accurate.
“We did not hire [Quenneville], we discussed that we would be prepared to hire him – and that’s as far as it went,” said Dobson.
Sullivan said in a Dec. 14 telephone interview that he “believed that to be true at the time.”
On Dec. 9 Sullivan and Dobson announced the hospital boards have hired Stephen Street as president and CEO, effective March 10.
Street has served as vice president of corporate services and planning for NWHC and Groves since 2011.
Asked if Street will be paid the same salary as Quenneville, Dobson said the exact figure will be released later, “But essentially it’s the same, yes.”
Quenneville was paid $226,265 in 2014, while Street made $131,314 as vice president that year.
With Quenneville leaving on the heels of the retirement of the organizations’ chief nursing executive, Sullivan said hiring Street ensures “continuity” for the alliance.
Quenneville could not be reached for comment. On Monday, a recorded message indicated he will be out of the office until Jan. 4.
‘Integrated governance’
If approved by the LHIN, the new integrated hospital governance structure will take effect on April 1.
Board officials say the agreement will:
– bring stability to the governance of the three hospital sites;
– better position the organizations for long term stability of hospital operations;
– facilitate planning, decision making, and resource allocation to meet the needs of patients;
– strengthen the organization’s ability to attract and retain talent, including physicians, specialists, and leadership;
– allow for the continued achievement of the objectives set out in the alliance agreement;
– support the achievement of a robust, integrated model of care in Wellington as contemplated in the Rural Wellington Plan;
– contribute to the advancement of rural health care in Wellington County;
– create a stronger voice to advance health care issues in the county; and
– eliminate duplication of board and other activities.
The new agreement, available at http://wwlhin.on.ca/boardandgovernance/boardmeetings.aspx, was to be discussed at the Dec. 17 LHIN meeting.
If approved, the hospital boards will proceed with a formal legal agreement.
