Minister of Northern Development and Mines Rick Bartolucci is critical of his colleague's remarks to the media about Sudbury Regional Hospital administration.
At a news conference today (Friday, Feb. 9), Bartolucci said Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman should have called a private meeting with the board and administration if he had concerns.
During an interview with CBC Radio earlier this month, Smitherman said he was disappointed that hospital CEO Vickie Kaminski was getting paid “more and more” but the “performance of the hospital does not look to be responding.”
“I cannot speak for Minister Smitherman, but I find it regrettable that this matter was not dealt with in a more appropriate manner,” he said.
“In my opinion, the concerns about leadership at the hospital should have been addressed in a more professional way. Minister Smitherman should have addressed his concerns in private with the CEO and the hospital board directly rather than making those concerns known for the first time through the media.
“In all my years as a minister and an MPP, if I've had an issue with a community stakeholder that I work with in my ministry, I pick up the phone and discuss it privately.”
The Sudbury MPP was on holiday during the controversy surrounding Smitherman's comments.
Hospital administrators will have a meeting with Smitherman in the next few weeks.
Bartolucci also said he would not discuss his thoughts about Kaminski's salary, or the salary of any other public official. “Most of us would find it very humiliating should there be a public debate as to whether or not we deserve our salary.”
