The eHealth scandal that arose in October after the Auditor General's report revealed that Ontario taxpayers have received nothing in return for the $1 billion dollars investment. eHealth branch had 30-some employees, while relying on more than 300 consultants since 2000. The idea behind eHealth was to create electronic health records for Ontario, instead it has ended up having wasted millions on "underused computer systems and untendered contracts." These contracters were paid more than $2,000 a day, while billing out-of-pocket expenses such as their coffee, cookies, and limousine rides!
I understand how some of these resignations may seem as scapegoats for the entire scandal. As Sapsford was well-regarded by numerous civil servants to praised him on being one of the best deputy ministers. However, Mr. Sapsford who has held his position since 2005 should have overseen the progress that had been made over 5 years, rather than let the inefficieny continue and the wasted money of the taxpayers accumulate. The GlobeandMail quote Sapsford as stating "from my point of view, all the rules were in place and understood," however he had no idea about the controversial consulting contracts put in place by Hudson and Kramer. I am less than sympathetic about the resignation of these positions by people who are ready to accept the praise and recognition of successful deeds, while claiming they had no idea about those gone bad. In fact, the luxury of resignation is one that these public figures do not deserve. Those under a cloud of suspicion rather than being allowed to resign, should be suspended without pay until a public inquiry is initiated. It is easy to quit, as many involved with eHealth have, leaving countless of unanswered questions. First and foremost being: "WHERE OUR MONEY?"
It makes me cringe to think about how many hospital beds or MRI machines, or whatever else our hospitals lack could have been bought with this large amount of money, or perhaps pay our doctors to keep them from leaving the country???
The entire eHealth scandal is just that. . . a scandal . . . Obviously health care is expensive, but is it really up to the government to decide how much a life is worth???
ReplyDeleteThis entire scandal seems to be the result of our public healthcare moving towards a more privatized, American style of health reform. I have friends that work in the health care system and they say that it is now ran more as a 'business' than than actually meeting peoples needs. . . .if a few people die, but you save some money, what's the harm right? Just look at the Niagara region, where they are closing several emergency rooms in favour of a 'super hospital' located an hour away from some people. . . people will die, but they will save money in the long run.
The entire system has just become too bureaucratic and the eHealth it is just the icing on the cake . . . crooked politicians offering up lucrative government contracts to the highest bidder. . .
Maybe when people start dying from the government's shortsightedness, then we'll finally have action on this issue. . .