BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN
Sudbury Regional Hospital finally dragged itself out of a deep pit of financial quicksand this past year, recording a $1.5 million surplus for 2004-2005.
It?s the first time the hospital has been in the black since the city?s three hospitals amalgamated eight years ago. Back in 2002, SRH had an operating
deficit of $26 million.
?I think it?s a watershed moment. Any time you go from...being one of the worst hospitals, financially, in the province of Ontario, to one of the best in basically a two-year period illustrates a real concerted effort by a lot of people,? SRH board chair Geoffrey Lougheed told Northern Life.
The hospital board and CEO Vickie Kaminski deserve kudos for bringing the hospital?s finances under control, he says.
The McGuinty government, which has invested heavily in the hospital this year, also deserves some credit for the surplus, Lougheed says. He calls Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci ?a very good friend? of the hospital because he is always willing to advocate for more funding.
The surplus will go back into the hospital?s operational budget, paying for equipment, patient services and staff salaries.
Just a few years ago, a surplus budget would have been unthinkable at SRH, says Lougheed. The hospital was in such dire straits that the government stepped in and conducted a review of their operations.
Together, they came up with a multi-year recovery plan, which laid out a road map for balanced books by 2007-2008. The hospital has met this target two years early.
Kaminski says she?s happy about the surplus, although she can?t forget about the sacrifices her staff made as they reduced the hospital?s budget by about $26 million. This year, SRH cut about $5.3 million as part of their recovery plan.
But while staff co-operated with the board?s financial plans, they were sometimes less than thrilled with the process, admits the CEO. There have been some protests in the past few months about cuts.
?It?s change and change is upsetting. Some of it happened quickly, and I think people react when it?s quick...But I think overall people understood why we had to do it,? she says.
Kaminski says she avoided cutting patient services and tried to preserve jobs whenever possible, while implementing the recovery plan.
?We tried to be sensitive to issues of employment. We looked at ways to use attrition ? early retirement offers, or waiting for people to leave of their own accord,? she says.
While Kaminski believes finding ?efficiencies? in the budget has made the hospital stronger, she says there are a few areas that have suffered, especially food services. About three years ago, the hospital started serving patients re-heated, prefabricated food, and cafeteria hours were cut.
She also can?t forget about the fact that construction on the one-site hospital won?t re-commence until at least the end of this year. The hospital was
originally supposed to be completed back in 2000, but construction stopped after costs began to escalate.
Still, most Ontario hospitals would love to be in SRH?s position right now, says Kaminski.
The province passed a bill last year forcing all Ontario hospitals to balance their books by March 2006. As a result, most communities are cutting jobs and patient services.
?I feel badly for them. I know it?s a long hard road, and I think they?ve got some troubles ahead of them if they?re running deficits if the government is not going to tolerate that,? she says.
Kaminski says being able to report a surplus is nice, especially since the hospital has faced stiff criticism recently. On April 1, the Ontario Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act revealed she received a 50 percent raise in 2004, and now earns $342,000 a year.
There was a strong outcry from the community, with some saying it was unfair the CEO got such a big raise while making cuts. But Kaminski thinks
local media coverage was unfair and lasted too long.
?I think lots of people didn?t understand that whole issue of salary. A $300,000 salary in a $300 million corporation is a lot of money, but it?s not out of whack with the rest of the province with hospitals,? she says.
?I?m really glad that we?ve balanced our books, and maybe we can start talking about the good things in the hospital, and not focus on those flash
points that people tend to coalesce around.?
