Councillors here are ready to support Gravenhurst’s bid to have the Ontario Ombudsman act on behalf of hospitals.
Mayor Mike Broomhead said the resolution stated the ombudsman is the “citizen representative” and the office of the Ombudsman is responsible for responding to complaints affecting government organizations save and except hospitals, long-term care facilities, and children’s aid societies.
Broomhead said it seemed Gravenhurst wants to appeal that to have the ombudsman respond to hospital issues too.
The resolution noted that the Office of the Ombudsman has been advocating since 1975 to include hospitals under its jurisdiction.
“But to date, Ontario remains the only province in Canada whose Ombudsman has no jurisdiction over hospitals and long-term care facilities.” The resolution also noted that hospitals spend more than $20-billion in public money every year in Ontario.
Broomhead said Gravenhurst council contends the historical reason for not including hospitals under the act is extremely weak, and is because they do not qualify because they have their own elected boards. They say a municipal “board of directors” is directly elected by the public and hospital boards are not.
Despite that, the Ombudsman’s office receives numerous complaints about hospitals every year that it cannot investigate. As a result, Gravenhurst stated the time has come for the province to include hospitals under the Ombudsman Act to ensure a high level of health care, fiscal responsibility, accountability, openness and transparency.
“What’s council’s thought on this?” Broomhead asked.
Councillor Dan Yake said, “It’s another check that lets the government know there are issues going on in the hospitals. I don’t think it would be bad to support them.”
Council voted unanimously to support the Gravenhurst proposal.
