All You Need Is Love for County’s hospital
Administrator | Feb 20, 2015 | Comments 45
All You Need Is Love – Sandra Foreman photo
All You Need Is Love and 300 County residents to raise almost $40,000 medical equipment needs at Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital.
Andy Forgie. – Dave Tugwood photo
The band ‘All You Need Is Love’, from Belleville, entertained almost 300 guests at its first County gig at the Wellington Community Centre’s Highline Hall on Valentine’s Day. Musicians Andy Forgie, Mark Rashotte, Steve Smith, Al Haring, Paul Lockyer and Vitas Slapkauskas celebrate the music of The Beatles.
“On behalf of the All You Need Is Love committee, we are thrilled to announce the event raised almost $40,000 for priority medical equipment purchases at PECM Hospital,” said Lillian Duffy, co-chair of the event with Linda Duffy-Brown. “It was through the strong partnerships we created with our sponsors, Huff Estates, Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty, Brokerage and sales representatives Elizabeth Crombie, Sandra Foreman, Treat Hull and Carey Lewandoski, RBC Dominion Securities and Tom Belch and Sons Building Contractors that we were able to host such an electrifying concert in Prince Edward County.”
In addition to sponsorship, ticket sales coupled with live and silent auction items from almost 80 local businesses helped boost the final dollar amount. The co-chairs expressed thanks to all those businesses that donated items.
An album of the evening may be viewed through Facebook at this link – with more photos to be added.
Silent auction -Dave Tugwood photo
Filed Under: News from Everywhere Else
I believe that people have to come to grips with the following questions….. “Is democracy what governments do?” or “Is democracy what people do?” Personally (and historically) for me it’s what people do.
There are lots of people who are dissatisfied with government but not enough who will take the time to work for democracy. It’s a matter of time before they throw open their windows and start shouting “I’ve had enough, I won’t take it anymore” (Thx to the writers of the movie Network).
It takes a lot of people to start opening their windows!
We both know that political parties exist to be in power. That’s how they can help their ideological supporters. So that begs the questions, “What is the purpose of government? What principles do they follow once in power when making tough decisions for ALL Canadians?”
I won’t waster my time joining groups who want to change the electoral system. That’s tinkering at the edges.
I really like your approach Wolf. But with so much apathy how do you propose to engage enough taxpayers to get the attention of the political regime. You know their purpose is to gain power and keep power.
Susan: ” Fix it Wolf.”
Glad to read that we agree things are a financial mess. That’s a good start. 🙂
I don’t claim to be the Messiah But my experience tells me that the highest probability is in the area of PROCESS… for delivering services. Therefore the following has to happen for there to be meaningful change in government at all levels.
1. A majority of taxpayers have to agree things need to change to avoid financial collapse. People have to become engaged.
2. People need to agree on a purpose and principles for all 3 levels of government. Change should ideally start at the Federal level but can also start at Municipal.
4. Next begin to examine government service delivery processes. Start with the Ministry that consumes the largest share of the total budget. In the case of Ontario that would be health care.
5. Bring in a expert on processes. I’ve always had success using engineers or scientists (Physics), experts in ’cause and effect’.
6. Experts need to examine all processes and flow-chart each one. Within each flow chart identify who does what? How long does each part take? What’s the cost? Is each step needed? Can it be changed for greater effectiveness and efficiency. I won’t continue deeper on this important step. What’s important is to ensure that people doing their job within the process are putting in a full day’s job. Jobs that require less than 7hrs per day need to be changed.
7. Have the experts identify opportunities for greater effectiveness, efficiency and savings.
8. Create new flow charts that reflect changes.
9. Using ‘new’ flow charts, make necessary cuts, re-assign people. Create new job descriptions.
10. Measure the new process against set goals. Measurement becomes ongoing.
I have witnessed Federal government processes where workers dong their job take no more than 3 hours per day to do that. My experience has shown me that Government bureaucracy tends to be ‘fat’. And since salaries are a large cost, that’s likely where savings and greater efficiency and effectiveness cn be found.
I am quite aware of the financial crisis in Ontario. Thus the more reason why sky rocketing health care costs can’t and won’t keep up for the boomers. Bad mistakes made, you bet, both the Conservatives and Liberals have dirt on their hands. Tories under Harris for the deregulation of Ontario Hydro which the taxpayers owned, amalgamation of hospitals and municipal governments. The Grits for trying to please everyone and mis managing finances some of which like hydro were inherited from Harris. One awful mess! If Ontario was a country we would be like Greece. When the s..t hits the fan with creditors (and heaven forbid interest rate Increase) the pain to Ontario taxpayers including boomers will be enormous. You will see the boomers with the cash leave the province rather than face the pain in their last few years on earth! Fix it Wolf.
Sorry that you’ve missed the point Susan. Government is “cacked”, hence the problems with debt, health care funding shortages, billions wasted on cancellations, etc. etc etc. Three hundred billion dollars in debt for Ontario… do you want to keep feeding this insatiable beast called government?
That’s all fine and good Wolf but we are living in the real world until you can get things changed.
Susan:”That comment was made in jest Marnie. More to wake Wolf up to the real world and how it functions. Governments rarely save for tomorrow. Can you imagine if through the 60′s,70′s 80′s and 90′s governments heavily taxed the then middle aged and seniors in order to provide for the boomers what the outcry would have been. Deafening!”
LOL… I’m well aware of how the real world functions Susan. How about you?
Government’s ‘purpose’ is to protect and enhance the lives of all peoples. Purpose is another way of explaining “why government exists”. If you disagree with that short version I’d love to learn more from you.
Governments and political parties require a set of ‘principles’ by which they make tough decisions on our behalf. I have yet to find anything to do with Canadian government’s and principles. Again, if you know something about this please do share.
I mention both purpose and principles because in my 40+ adult years I have seen highly successful organizations who have clear purposes and principles. But never in Canadian/Western governments at all 3 levels.
Highly successful organizations are driven by purpose. They plan for the long term using evidenced base data. They also maintain rigorous financial systems. Not in government. The Ontario government carries a debt of 300 billion dollars. That’s just bad management and bad stewards of our scarce tax dollars. When Prince Edward County carries a debt of over 30 million that’s also not good. Or do you want to wake me up some more??
That comment was made in jest Marnie. More to wake Wolf up to the real world and how it functions. Governments rarely save for tomorrow. Can you imagine if through the 60’s,70’s 80’s and 90’s governments heavily taxed the then middle aged and seniors in order to provide for the boomers what the outcry would have been. Deafening!
Susan, be realistic. How do you expect the average person to afford some of the medical expenses that they may require? Wolfe has made some good points. The government had to know what was coming.
Why would I explain your theory. Just perhaps you should pay for the services you desire and not rely on the government for all your needs.
Susan: “Health care is an issue across the province. Demand is stronger than the resources available. I just think MCE is an easy target for the frustrated. I suspect managing 4 hospitals under austerity is quite a task.”
All governments have know for decades about what was going to happen as the Boomers hit 65. None of them had the stamina to deal with it. Governments purpose is to protect and enhance the lives of all people. It is not to get elected and stay in power, which is what we see with with election cycles now running constantly not just for weeks prior to an election.
It’s not just a provincial problem. It’s global. Some places have handled the problem much better than others. The final judge of how well the health care system operates are the people in Ontario who use the system. Over 900,000 people in Ontario do not have a doctor. Yet, the government wants to put family docs out of business. Explain that to us if you can Susan.
So MC is just their hatchet woman. That does not make her any more palatable to me. I once watched her sweep arrogantly past a line of picketers without as much as a smile. She’s been anointed with no doubt.
Crown lies with the QHC Board. They are the employer, are accountable and provide the oversight.
Susan, many of us who have been victims of this system feel incredible frustration too. Nobody can expect to earn Mary Clare’s salary without being asked to face some big challenges. It’s a bit like the old saying Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.
Health care is an issue across the province. Demand is stronger than the resources available. I just think MCE is an easy target for the frustrated. I suspect managing 4 hospitals under austerity is quite a task.
Why Susan, I think you would like to give her a raise. Sorry but she does not impress me. I understand all too well the challenges facing the QHC. Do you understand the tremendous challenges facing elderly patients who are being short-changed by today’s faltering health care system? Are you aware of the effects of these changes on their families. I am not about to get out a hanky for the QHC.
Susan: “Do you have a full understanding of the funding issues facing QHC?”
The real losers in Ontario health care will be our sick, our elderly and our dying who will be forced to struggle and scrape even harder to get the care they need and deserve. Does MCE have compassion? If yes, she needs to show us. I don’t see her or the board doing that.
I’m not laying everything at the feet of MCE. For decades, successive Ontario governments have talked boldly about the need to focus more resources on local community care. The reality is that barely 5% of the MOH’s budget goes to care for the elderly and sick. They kick patients out of costly hospital beds as fast as they can and not always with the proper amount of home care. Our former health care system is now second class. Governments love to talk about transparency. Talk is cheap.
Someone needs to show us how and why those beds are considered so costly. Until they do, I’m putting my bet on unaffordable salaries at all levels. Especially the salaries of those employees who not add direct value to the patient.
Back in 1999 my father died in an Ontario hospital after a heart valve operation went south. He was in hospital for 90 days. Never woke up from the operation. He was in an ICU the full 90 days. Around the 75th day, the chief surgeon of the hospital took my sister and I through a stack of invoices with costs for dad’s stay. The amount was around $350 thousand. What he didn’t show us was the salaries of ‘all’ employees apportioned to my father’s stay. Hospitals need to use “Activity Based Accounting” to fully understand their costs. I doubt that hospital management and staff would go along with “ABC”.
Marnie, do you really believe that it is Mary Clare that is responsible for budget cuts and layoffs? Perhaps if not for her hard work and ingenuity things could be much worse. Do you have a full understanding of the funding issues facing QHC?
Susan are you suggesting that Mary Clare is worth those big dollars? She’s raking it in while others are being laid off. Is she fixing the system? Are we seeing positive results for that big pay cheque? There seems to be little good news of late.
Thanks. Interesting read. I have observed that municipally since amalgamation senior salaries have sky rocketed.
Susan: “But I have reviewed many within government services and municipally. One doesn’t need to be an expert to understand the general similarities in executive arrangements.”
It would be good to know how ‘your’ two sources break down. We’re not talking about municipal contracts in this case.
If one goes online and reviews all the CEO contracts for Ontario hospital corporations (yes they are online) there are as many differences as there are similarities. They range from 10 pages (as in MCE’s contract to others that go as far as 20 pages. Same with categories. Some contracts cover things like terms, Job title, description, etc. Others are much shorter, like MCE’s contract. Some contracts even contain additional schedules that cover the cost of personal trainers, plastic surgery and something called “flexible spending accounts”.
Ontario taxpayers are fed up with such contracts. Like I said before, almost none of the contracts I’ve reviewed online make mention or place emphasis on frontline services to Ontarions. That’s very different from CEO contracts in the corporate world. Read the just one scathing report….
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/03/ontario-hospitals-publish-salaries-of-top-executives-unveil-exorbitant-packages/
That’s right I am not an expert. But I have reviewed many within government services and municipally. One doesn’t need to be an expert to understand the general similarities in executive arrangements.I don’t know why you want to grill me on this issue. If you want to identify something out of the norm on the contract you posted please do so. If anything it seems to be lacking many of the perks that many contain. So provide some info Wolf rather than sitting back and attempting to cross examine on a regular basis.
Susan, you’ve already stated you’re not an expert on contracts. Now you seem to suggest that you are by virtue of having read employment contracts. How many and from what industries have you read them?
What is the basis for your statement? Particularly saying she is an executive at the trough. Do you know this as fact?
It is not Mary Clare who deserves the big bucks. Consider the over-worked nurses running to care for more patients than they can reasonably be expected to serve. They care and go the extra mile. Mary Clare is just another executive at the trough. We were a lot better off before we had all of these professionals managing us at all levels of government.
Executive contracts.
What exactly are you observing that gets you to your POV ?
Observations.
Susan: “That wage is quite in line with comparable positions. Not saying it is right but why single her out. It’s the way of the country.”
What is the basis for your statements ?
It is unfortunately normal human behavior to resent the salary of those placed in charge of a system that is not meeting expectations often outside of their control.
As well I thought Emily made some very strong and valid points on the water & waste water issues. A lot of folks do not understand the value of an urban center and costs involved in providing services to the broader base.
Thought I would kill 2 birds with one stone! Lol
Susan, just because those working there want big salaries does not mean you give them all they ask for and more. To bad the strategy of being tight fisted fiscally with employees when negotiating contracts does not apply to upper management.It seems that no matter how dismal the economic situation they can always find more money for those at the top,plus benefits.plus perks, plus pensions……….then turn around and preach austerity,service cuts and staffing reductions…..maybe even hospital closures cause we have a budget deficit.Maybe her and her cronies should try and tighten their fiscal belts this time starting at the top.
That wage is quite in line with comparable positions. Not saying it is right but why single her out. It’s the way of the country. Everyone needs a new police station, new fire hall, new health unit all costing multiple millions. And those working there want huge salaries. Her job is a big one. She is not to blame for the cuts. She has to play the hand she has been dealt.
Mary Clare sure took care of Mary Clare in that contract.That wage is obscene for such a small catchment area and really managing only one functioning full service hospital cause at the rate she is cutting thats all that will be left.
Thank you Wolf. I have no so called expertise in being able to define a contract as standard. Was not really aware that was a craft. I read it and it seemed to fit fairly well and in line with other comparable contracts. Thus standard. And I have no relationship with QHC. I prefer to stay as far away from hospitals as possible as they are a haven for deadly germs.
Unless you correct me I shall assume that you have an affiliation with either QHC or the SELHIN. 🙂 I’ve always used my real name in online forums since 1990, prior to the days of Windows. I have learned that discussions are of a higher quality when all parties use a full name.
To be clear, CEOs have always earned much higher salaries than the workers they manage, but the gap between CEO and worker pay has soared in recent decades.
My resoning:
1. This CEO, and others (not on the frontline) do not add real value to the end users of the hospital’s services. She’s a finance person parachuted in by the MOH to deliver a budget. That comes at the expense of delivering value to patients and end users and on the mandate of the Canada Health Act. It’s good to know that at least one of the doctors at BGH earns more than the current CEO.
2. From public records, research from ONGO’s, the media we know that the ratio of average CEO compensation to compensation of the average worker from 1965–2010 has gone up substantially. In some cases it’s justifiable and I’m not personally opposed to that. In 1978, compensation of CEOs was 35 times greater than compensation of average workers. Since then, this ratio has skyrocketed, peaking at 299-to-1 in 2000. During the Great Recession, CEO pay fell relative to pay of typical workers because much of CEO compensation is directly linked to the stock market, which fell sharply in 2008 and 2009. However, the ratio bounced back during the recovery and stood at 243-to-1 in 2010. At this rate, it likely will not take long for the gap to reach its prior peak.
I see no evidence to justify that CEO salaries in the public sector should match those in the corporate world. Do you have such evidence? Especially when there are still Fortune 100 CEO’s who do not fall into the above ratios.
So Susan, what is your expertise to say that QHC’s CEO package is standard? 🙂
A question answering a question. You stated that this contract demonstrates what is wrong at QHC. Give us the reasoning.
Susan, are you Susan Rowe ?
If not, do you have expertise in contracts such as this one to call it standard?
I’ll bite Wolf! How does this employment contract demonstrate what is wrong with QHC? Looks like a pretty standard contract for a position of this nature.
Here’s the link for more details on “Our TMH” rally on March 7th http://www.trentonian.ca/2015/02/20/rally-planned-for-tmh
A link to Mary Claire Egberts employment contract for the next 5 years…. It demonstrates what is wrong at QHC. Taken from the QHC website.
http://www.qhc.on.ca/photos/custom/MC%20Egberts%20-%202014%20Employment%20Contract%20Letter.pdf
Can’t disagree on that. There are only so many tax dollars. And the fact that we now keep people living much longer unnaturally with little life quality only stresses the system further.
If budget cuts are in order because of reduced funding then services have to be looked at. It can’t just be ignored. TMH will be a target due to it’s very close proximity to BGH. The days of having a full service hospital in every town or small city 20 to 30 minutes apart may be over.
Our TMH is having a rally at their high school on March 7th we should all attend.
I think Trenton Memorial Hospital is in for some tough changes. Prince Edward Memorial as well but not on the scale Trenton will be hit with FOR NOW..I think Prince Edward County should throw their weight behind Trenton and help them battle the dragon(QHC).Whats happening to Trenton Memorial could very easily be us next. Belleville General grows by leaps and bounds at the expense of both PECMH and TMH we definitely need to support each other
You might wanna hold off handing over that cheque until QHC makes their cuts in March, it could very well be used for new office furniture for the COA.I am sure PECMH and Trenton will suffer more cuts and service reductions while BGH will benefit from more consolidation of services at that site.