Strathroy Hospital’s Deficit “Gap” Narrows

The cutbacks and budget trimming at Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital (SMGH) of the Middlesex Hospital Alliance (MHA) are beginning to have an impact, the MHA Board of Directors heard at their regular meeting held Wednesday, November 26, 2008.

"The original financial target for the Strathroy site was $2.6 million in reductions spread over two fiscal years, 2008/09 and 2009/10. We have narrowed that gap to $600,000 for the year ending March 31, 2010," reported Chief Financial Officer Paul Long. The negotiations with the South West Local Health Integrated Network (SW LHIN) concerning budget shortfalls began in March 2008. The SMGH has already taken a number of actions to reduce expenditures. All departments and all levels within the hospital have felt this impact. The reduction in expenditures necessitated some changes in how the hospital operates. The hospital's transformation strategy has reduced beds to 64 from 77, with most of these being long term care.

At the insistence of the SW LHIN, the hospital underwent a review by HCM Consulting, which compared costs at SMGH with those of similar, but not identical, hospitals in the province. The HCM's work in this review process should be completed in January 2009.

Ineke Haan, Chair of the MHA Board, reported, "Discussions with the SW LHIN have made it exceedingly clear that no additional money will be made available for SMGH regardless of the circumstances. The Board is fully aware of its legal obligation enforced by legislation to balance expenditures and revenues by March 31, 2010."

On a more positive note, the MHA Board heard that the original projected operating deficit of $500,000 at Four Counties Health Services (FCHS) is now projected to be $100,000 for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009.

While some additional work remains to be done to reduce expenditures at FCHS, at this point, it appears that the hospital will be balanced by March 31, 2010.

Chair Haan reported on a challenge issued at the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) sponsored "town hall" meeting that called for open elected boards. After discussion, the Board decided to refer a review of open elected boards for hospitals to its Governance Committee meeting in January, asking that the Committee review the challenge and the current best practice for hospital boards and make recommendations to the board.

The Board of Directors also received an update on the study of Emergency Departments (EDs) from SMGH CEO Mike Mazza. The SW LHIN "has initiated a review of emergency departments in the LHIN under the leadership of Dr. Lisa Shepherd," reported Mazza, "It is my understanding that the study is very much in the preliminary stages and not nearly as advanced as the study of Emergency Departments in the Erie St. Clair LHIN."

SMGH Chief of Staff, Dr. Paul Ferner also updated the Board on the medical staffing in the Emergency Department at SMGH for December. "We are very pleased that all the December ED shifts at SMGH have been covered by local physicians and we have not needed support from HealthForce Ontario, however we will need HFO's support for a few months in the New Year until we complete our staffing for medical people in the ED."

In response to a query from the Board, Chair Haan reported that, "provincial wait times in Emergency Departments in the Province of Ontario average 4.7 hours. The average wait time in the SW LHIN is 3.2 hours, compared to an average wait time of 2.3 hours at SMGH ED. Wait times across the province for Emergency Departments are problematic," she reported, "and although we certainly do not have the longest wait time in Southwestern Ontario, we are continuously making improvements at SMGH."

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Strathroy Hospital’s Deficit “Gap” Narrows