What officials at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance are calling a landmark change won't initially affect patients.
A voluntary merger between the Public General Hospital Society of Chatham and St. Joseph's Health Services Association has been announced. Health Alliance President and CEO Colin Patey says it was clear changes at the governance level were necessary to maintain their effectiveness. He says the individual five-member boards will merge to form a single, ten-member board.
"If you get too big, you can't fulfill your role because you will not be able to sit around the table, have everyone participate in a view of matters of today in a productive way," says Patey. "Or to even think and express yourself strategically." He expects the Ministry of Health to rubber stamp the merger in the near future, and have the new board officially in place by the fall.
The Sydenham District Hospital Board was also part of the two-year governance review, but chose not to merge, and Patey is directing any questions about that decision to members of the Sydenham board.
