The Ministry of Health has said ‘no’ to the termination of the ‘Alliance Agreement’ between the two Chatham hospitals boards and the Wallaceburg hospital board.
Sydenham District Hospital (SDH) Chair Sheldon Parsons said they have received of a copy of a letter from Dr. Bob Bell, Deputy Minister of Health for the Province of Ontario, addressed to the Public General Hospital Society (PGH) and St. Josephs Healthcare Services of Chatham (SJH) rejecting their application to dissolve the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.
The letter further requested “all parties to continue to act in good faith and use best efforts to explore go forward options that do not involve the unwinding of the Alliance and termination of the Agreement.”
“Welcome news,” Parsons said in a press release. “We have been advocating that agenda from the day that the two Chatham Boards announced publicly that they were suspending all Alliance Governance Activities and privately that they were seeking to dissolve the Alliance.”
“We were not informed by PGH and SJH of their application to the Ministry so it came as a surprise to us when we received the letter. Not the first surprise from them, but it should be the last, if the two Chatham Boards follow the advice of the Ministry.”
SDH will communicate with the Deputy Minister accepting his direction.
“We agree that the interest of patients, residents and visitors of both Chatham-Kent and Sydenham – Walpole – St. Clair are best served by the boards responsible for the governance of their healthcare services, when they cooperate with each other.”
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should kick out St. Josephs out of the Alliance ,they are not a hospital