SUDBURY, March 26, 1997 -- The Health Services Restructuring Commission today released its notices of intention to issue directions regarding the governance structure for the Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation.

The Commission has arrived at its decisions following the failure of a facilitation process to arrive at a locally-derived governance structure. The central issue was to determine the short and long term role of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie in the Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation and the ongoing expression of the Catholic mission in health care in Sudbury.

Commissioner Dr. Maureen Law said, "The Commission firmly believes in fostering local solutions and approaches to implement restructuring. The Commission was very pleased with the significant progress made by the Governance Planning Task Force in developing a governance structure for the new regional hospital corporation.

"While the Governance Planning Task Force agreed on many points, the Commission regrets that the facilitation process was unable to arrive at a total solution because they could not agree on a continuing role for the Sisters of St. Joseph in the short and long term," she said.

Based on the facilitators' report and the report of the Governance Planning Task Force, the Commission has determined that the Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation will be accountable for the provision of all hospital-based acute care, transitional care, chronic care and rehabilitation services within the Sudbury Region.

The Board, supported by the CEO, shall be the single point of accountability for all operations of the Corporation. The CEO shall be appointed by and be accountable to the Board for the operation of the Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation. There will be a single medical staff with one Medical Staff Association and one Medical Advisory Committee.

All funding for hospital-based acute care, transitional care, chronic care and rehabilitation services provided within Sudbury Region shall be provided to the Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation. All employees and staff, except for specifically contracted staff, shall be employed by the hospital corporation.

The Board may, from time to time, contract with external persons or organizations to deliver various services and facilities to the Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation in support of its mandate. The CEO shall be responsible to the Board for overseeing all contractual relationships.

In arriving at its decisions regarding a governance structure for the Sudbury Regional Hospital, the Commission acknowledged the tradition of excellence and caring that the Sisters have demonstrated over many years of dedicated service to the community. The Commission sees no reason for this tradition to end.

Based on the facilitators' report and the report of the Governance Planning Task Force, the Commission has determined that both the short and long term roles of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie, if they wish to pursue this role, are best addressed through contractual relationships between the Sisters of St. Joseph - either directly or through a corporate entity - and the Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation.

According to Dr. Law, the contractual relationship preserves the Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation's single governance structure for all acute, chronic, rehabilitation and transitional care services.

"The Commission is strongly committed to the principles of single governance of acute care services and a single point of accountability regarding the management of these services. In this model, both quality and affordability are maximised," she said.

The contractual relationship also preserves a role for the Sisters of St. Joseph in recognition of their history of service to the community and assures the continuance of the Sisters' mission in health care in Sudbury, added Dr. Law.

Should they so choose, the Sisters of St. Joseph shall:

• enter into a contractual relationship with the Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation to wind down the operations of the Paris site (currently the Sudbury General Hospital) under direction of the Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation and manage the acute care services on the Paris site as long as it is in operation;

• retain management of the building and related premises at the Paris Street site, with the costs of maintaining the premises to be carried by the Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation as long as the property is required for service delivery by the Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation; and

• maintain control of the Catholic Mission on the Paris site as long as it is in operation, in that Sudbury Regional Hospital Corporation physicians and employees on the site would abide by the ethical and value systems of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie.

As with all notices of intention to issue directions, the Commission is providing a response period. Organizations and members of the community have until April 9th to submit comments to the Commission.

The Health Services Restructuring Commission is an independent and expert agency established by the Ontario Government with a four-year mandate to review health services across the province. It has been charged with restructuring hospital systems and advising the Minister of Health on reinvesting in and restructuring other health services to improve quality and patient outcomes.

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