By BRETT CLARKSON Niagara Falls Review Posted 17 hours ago
Is anybody surprised?
That's the question being asked by local elected officials after Terry Flynn's report found that the Niagara Health System isn't very popular right now.
"I could've saved them all that money, I could've told them," said Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati. "The findings are no surprise to me or anyone else in the community. There's been a huge disconnect between the NHS and the people it serves for quite a long time."
Diodati has long criticized the NHS for being a "top-down" organization more interested in "like-minded groupthink" than being accountable to the communities it serves.
Still, the Falls mayor hoped the study and its recommendations would bring more transparency and accountability to an organization that he and other critics have long said has been lacking in those departments.
Diodati said he believes much of the public anger toward the NHS was inspired by the NHS' controversial 2008 restructuring plan, known as the Hospital Improvement Plan, or HIP.
"They created it and then stuffed it down our throats and there was an instant gag reaction, as you would expect when you shove something down someone's throat," Diodati said.
In Fort Erie, Mayor Doug Martin echoed what Diodati said, that the restructuring outlined in the HIP sparked a lot of anger in the community.
"They've lost confidence in their health system and when you lose confidence that trust is very difficult to get back," Martin said, adding that recent changes at the NHS have contributed to what he said was a noticeable improvement in how people in Fort Erie view the organization.
"With the changes that have been happening and with Dr. (Kevin) Smith coming in and being appointed supervisor, I think that has begun the healing process," Martin said.
Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor said he wasn't surprised by the study's results, but he was hoping to see things change for the better.
"I will say that I have confidence in Sue Matthews who has taken over as the CEO and I have confidence in Kevin Smith, and I'm going to be positive and say this is our opportunity, (with) those people who have come on board, to turn this ship around, work together, and take the politics out of health care," Craitor said.
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