Council here has directed staff to prepare a report on local hospital board amalgamation discussions.
Mayor Neil Driscoll suggested on Sept. 22 that Mapleton council should have a discussion on the situation at a future meeting.
“I have received a few emails (on the topic) that I have forwarded on to local hospital board and to staff and I would like to set aside some time at the next meeting to discuss this issue,” said Driscoll. “I really want to know what’s going on … I’d like to know the ins and outs of it because I don’t understand the process.”
In the course of preparing the report, acting CAO Brad McRoberts has been directed to talk to CAOs of other Wellington municipalities to get their take on the issue.
The Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) has directed the boards of Wellington County’s two hospital corporations to amalgamate by Nov. 30.
The LHIN has appointed a consultant from KPMG to act as facilitator for amalgamation discussions between the board of Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus and North Wellington Health Care, which operates Palmerston and District Hospital and Louise Marshall Hospital in Mount Forest.
The two corporations have operated for over a decade under an alliance that includes sharing of a CAO and key staff members. The LHIN wants further governance integration and Groves board has expressed a preference for total amalgamation while NWHC supports the concept of a “more robust alliance.”
