National Post
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Page: A8
Section: Canada
Byline: Kenyon Wallace
Source: National Post; With Files From Canwest News Service

Ontario's highly paid hospital executives are set to see their salaries tied to performance as the provincial government tries to improve patient care and ensure medical errors are reported publicly.

Legislation entitled "Excellent Care for All" tabled at Queen's Park yesterday by Health Minister Deb Matthews aims to make spending at the province's 157 hospitals more transparent by requiring publicly accessible annual quality improvement plans and the creation of quality committees reporting to hospitals' boards of directors. But the health minister said executive salaries at hospitals with budgets already severely strained would not be reduced.

"We want our health-care system to be focused on patient needs with health services supported by the best evidence and highest standards," Ms. Matthews said.

"Improving quality of care not only means better patient care, it improves the value of our health-care investment."

The bill also aims to give patients a greater say in their care by introducing a complaints process and satisfaction surveys, and seeks to contain costs by cutting avoidable hospital admissions and the unnecessary use of diagnostic equipment.

A release issued by the Ministry of Health yesterday said Ontario would also implement a patient-based payment system where large hospitals are reimbursed based on the types and volumes of patients they treat.

Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak said the new legislation was "too little too late" given the recent spending scandals the government has faced.

"[The government] has turned the Ministry of Health budget into its own political slush fund -- and a billion dollars down the drain at e-health," he told reporters. "It is hiding salaries for overpaid CEOs ... on hospital budgets."

Ontario hospital executives are among the highest-paid public servants in the province. Robert Bell, CEO of the University Health Network, earned $809,948 in 2009, a 24% increase in the last three years, according to the Service Employees International Union. Joseph Mapa, chief executive at Mt. Sinai Hospital made $724,734 last year, while Robert Devitt, CEO of Toronto East General Hospital, earned $460,852.