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Hospitals under pressure to balance budgets Continued from page 1 3 · Friday, April 2, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com CCC beds accommodate sicker patients often suffering from chronic conditions who are in hospital many months at a time, even until death. Acute care beds, on the other hand, are used for obstetrics, intensive care unit, and general medical/surgical patients who are typically in hospital less than a week. "We're moving down to 20 (CCC beds) which is kind of what our occupancy has been the past few months," said Halls of the cuts at Milton District Hospital (MDH). He said the reduced usage of the CCC beds is due to the efforts of the Mississauga-Halton Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), the provincial agency that co-ordinates hospital and community health services in the southwestern GTA, to reduce the amount of "appropriate/alternative level of care" (ALC) patients staying in hospital beds. ALC generally describes older patients suffering from chronic conditions or dying. The goal is to find alternative health services that can accommodate them including Home First -- services brought to the home -- as well as palliative care initiatives, convalescent and restore programs, and working with the Mississauga-Halton Community Care Access Centre to let these patients access available longterm care beds, said Halls. "The key is to make sure those alternatives are out there," he said. At its March 25 board meeting in Oakville, LHIN CEO Bill MacLeod outlined to the board of directors the agency's recommended 2010-11 plan for Aging at Home investments to reduce the amount of days in hospital spent by ALC patients and manage at-risk seniors in their homes. MacLeod's memo to the board said the LHIN has sent the plan to the Province's Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for review, with an answer expected next month. While the utilization of CCC beds in Milton might be down, Halls said the hospital's 43 acute care beds are full almost all the time. Eight of those beds are for obstetrics patients, which can be busy due to the 1,000-plus babies the hospital now delivers. However, the hospital has no funding to simply start using the five CCC beds that are to be cut as acute care beds, said Halls. The Province's budget last Thursday announced a 1.5-per-cent increase in funding for hospitals' base budgets, which Halls noted is lower than inflation in hospitals. That inflation rate takes into account negotiated wage hikes with unionized workers and cost of supplies. By law, hospitals such as HHS must present the Province with a balanced budget. The Ontario Nurses Association immediately condemned the Province's budget as a "nail in the coffin" of health care in the province and said it would result in service and nursing cuts. The Ontario Hospital Association expressed disappointment the Province didn't provide a two per cent increase in base hospital budget funding as it requested but said it is premature to predict the impact on services and staff. Base operating funding is only one "funding envelope" for hospitals, the OHA pointed out. There is also funding for wait time initiatives and other specialized allocations that haven't been announced yet. The Provincial budget reports an "annual growth" of 4.9 per cent for the hospital sector's "expense," the OHA stated. As part of its budget, the Province announced it would be freezing for two years the levels of compensation, including salaries and benefits, for non-unionized public sector workers includ- ing hospital employees. Local residents and a coalition of hospital unions have criticized the rising salaries of hospital administrators in recent years. According to the Province's public sector salary disclosure, or "Sunshine List," released online yesterday, HHS President and CEO John Oliver received $500,919 in salary and taxable benefits in 2009. That's $134,000 less than he got from the corporation in 2008 and his lowest compensation since 2006. The board of directors of HHS next meet publicly Thursday, April 8 at 3 p.m. at OakvilleTrafalgar Memorial Hospital, Lawson Building boardroom. CLIP & SAVE FAMILY FREE FAMILY PASS! The Oakville C O UP O N CLIP & SAVE! PUT ON YOUR FRIDGE! This Pass will allow your family FREE admission (2 adults and 2 children) to the FR EE PA RK ING Oakville Lifestyle Home Show, sunrooms, decks, blinds, April 9, 10 & 11, 2010 air conditions, garage at the Glen Abbey Recreation Centre, doors, countertops, 1415 Third Line just north of the Q.E.W. 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