Sir: Sarah Padfield, former chief operating officer and I had many a confrontation – about Sydenham District Hospital’s (SDH) rural/small status; the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance’s interpretation of the Alliance Agreement; and SDH questionable financial statements.
She was a tough lady, a fighter, something I respected, but she was wrong. Even so, before Padfield was with CKHA, it took me from June to February just to obtain a copy of the Alliance Agreement.
Other examples, when then-Premier Dalton McGuinty announced that due to the uniqueness of rural/small hospitals, they were eligible for extra funding, I filed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request with the Ministry of Health to check SDH’s status. Voila, there was Wallaceburg in black and white.
However, after confronting Padfield with this information, CKHA filed their financials under one number instead of the usual three (one for each of three hospital in the Alliance). The results? Wallaceburg was delisted.
Other FOI requests made directly to CKHA were similarly circumvented.
It was corporation membership that enabled me to become involved. The support of the community, the 500-plus other members and the excellent SDH board have brought us to this point.
So please, interim President & CEO Ken Deane, and Superintendent Rob Devitt, do not change the structure of the SDH Corporation. This will assure that you fulfill the “fiduciary duties for the best value for the money” for the Wallaceburg community too.
Anne Stewart
Wallaceburg
