HDGH's 'lack of full engagement' with partners concerns local Ontario Health Team

Published Jul 03, 2023 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 3 minute read

Better facilities, better outcomes. Bill Marra, president and CEO of Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, is shown on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, on the second floor of the hospital’s Tayfour building where acute mental health care facilities will be built. Photo by Dan Janisse /Windsor Star

On the heels of Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare publicly suggesting a possible remedy to the local mental health crisis, leaders of the Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team questioned the hospital’s leadership for making decisions on greatly needed projects on its own without the team’s endorsement.

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In a June 29 letter obtained by the Star addressed to HDGH president and CEO Bill Marra, the local health team’s steering committee said it has “concerns” with the hospital’s “lack of full engagement with key stakeholders and partners as it relates to system transformation and clinical pathway transitions.”

The letter is dated just two days after Marra told reporters his hospital would re-submit a Hotel-Dieu proposal to the province to fast-track assistance for Windsor’s mental health crisis that could help alleviate pressure on local police and hospital ERs.

The health team letter that followed lists three proposals that the group claims the hospital is pursuing without the health team’s required endorsement, including an urgent care centre, a rural crisis and mental wellness centre, and the relocation of its existing Transitional Stability Centre.

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In addition, the letter claims the hospital has not yet completed a “wholesome review” of its mobile team’s hours and days of operation “in comparison to data-driven demands and the ability for expansion to meet community needs.” The need for the review, the letter said, was outlined in February.

Copies of the letter were forwarded to a list of local and provincial health care system leaders, as well as Ontario’s premier, Windsor’s police chief and three area Progressive Conservative MPPs. News media, including the Windsor Star, were forwarded copies by recipients.

The letter concludes with an invitation from the team’s steering committee to the hospital “to join in an ad hoc meeting … to support your ongoing efforts.”

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Asked about the letter, hospital CEO Marra told the Star he is “disappointed” by the “leaked confidential letter,” and by anonymous comments published by another media outlet questioning the hospital’s plans for a dedicated psychiatric emergency room.

“That’s not the way I operate,” Marra said in a text message. “I think if individuals feel that strongly about the position they’re taking, they should have the courage of conviction to speak, publicly, and on the record.”

Several of the items the letter indicated the hospital has pursued without health team approval are widely thought of as desperately needed in Windsor-Essex. Leaders in local law enforcement, politics, and others have sounded alarm bells about the low availability of urgent care resources for mental health and addictions.

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However, the letter states the health team’s endorsement is required prior to seeking approvals from Ontario Health.

The province introduced Ontario Health Teams in 2019 to spur coordination among regional health-care providers so patients could efficiently access care as their needs change, even if that means visiting multiple organizations or physical locations over time.

The local letter was signed by Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team co-chairs Kristen Kennedy, president and CEO of Erie Shores HealthCare, and Nancy Brockenshire, executive director of the Hospice of Windsor and Essex County.

Hotel-Dieu says it could fast-track help for mental health crisis

Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare adds addiction care beds

Other named recipients include Bruce Krauter, chief of Essex-Windsor EMS, David Musyj, president and CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital, Joyce Zuk, executive director of Windsor-Essex Family Services, and 19 other local and provincial health and community leaders and politicians.

Key priorities for the Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team in the upcoming year, the letter said, include mental health and addictions health crisis response, access and flow (namely emergency room diversion and expanded urgent care hours, among other things) as well as primary care and prevention (cancer screening).

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