Ombudsman report on emergency rooms due

Ontario's ombudsman will issue a special report Tuesday on a decision to close hospital emergency rooms, but the Opposition is already vowing to scrap the regional health agencies set up by the government to make such decisions.

Ombudsman Andre Marin began his investigation last year after complaints the Hamilton-Niagara-Haldimand-Brant Local Health Integration Network [LHIN] did not adequately consult residents before approving the plan to shut the emergency rooms in Fort Erie and Port Colborne.

"I think, clearly, closing down the ERs in those communities does put the health care of local residents at risk," Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said Monday.

"It was a bad decision, and that ER in Fort Erie should be re-opened."

Critics believe the closure of the emergency room in Fort Erie may have played a part in the Boxing Day death of a teenager because an ambulance had to travel 20 kilometres to Welland instead.

The death of 18-year-old Reilly Anzovino became a rallying cry for critics who say cash-strapped hospitals are being forced to make major service cuts to avoid running illegal deficits.

Anzovino's grandmother, Patricia, has said the question of whether the teen's death could have been prevented if the local ERs had been open must be addressed for both the family and the community.

Marin's report will not look into the actual closures of the emergency rooms, but will focus on the decision-making process by the LHIN.

However, the New Democrats who asked for Marin's investigation are hoping for more.

"It would be out of character for the ombudsman to really limit his report to one little part," said NDP health critic France Gelinas.

"Did they do a meaningful community engagement, what did the government mean by that term and how did the LHIN translate that into practice? I'm assuming he'll look at the entire decision making process that led to the closing of those two ERs."

A Progressive Conservative government would re-open the Fort Erie emergency room and shut down all 14 LHINs created by the Liberal government, said Hudak.

"I simply believe that Dalton McGuinty is using these LHINs as a veil to hide behind when he's cutting hospital services or closing ERs like in Fort Erie and Port Colborne," said Hudak.

"If you have to make decisions about health care, hold the politicians accountable, not these faceless, anonymous bureaucracies."

Some family members of mental health patients in North Bay have asked the ombudsman to investigate a decision by the North East LHIN to consolidate mental health services in Sudbury, which could mean moving dozens of patients from one city to another.

A complaint has been received and is being reviewed by the ombudsman's office, spokeswoman Linda Williamson said Monday.

"We're looking at it but we have not made a decision whether to investigate or not," said Williamson.

The NDP supported the creation of the LHINs because local decision making on health care issues made a lot more sense than having bureaucrats in Toronto make decisions for all regions of Ontario, but the theory "fell off the rails badly" in practice, said Gelinas.

Whenever there is an expansion of health services "you see the Liberal MPPs standing there with a big cheque and taking all of the credit," but when the LHINs have bad news announcements, they stand alone, she said.

"The good news is still announced by the government and the LHINs are being used as a shield for all of the unpopular decisions that the Liberals are making," said Gelinas.

"To me this is not local decision making. They are puppets of the Liberal government."

At first the LHINs were able to attract top health care executives to serve as CEOs, but "they all bailed when they realized they didn't have the authority or the freedom to really make a difference at the local level," said Gelinas.