Ontario Hospital Association
200 Front Street West, Suite 2800
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3L1
Tel: (416) 205-1345 Fax: (416) 205-1360
Visit our Web Site: http://www.oha.com
May 12, 2010
Toronto, ON – The Ontario Hospital Association’s (OHA) feels it is important to address several topics included in this morning’s Globe and Mail article regarding the 2010 Hospital Prototype Bylaws:
•The OHA believes that physicians play a central role in the delivery of care within hospitals and contrary to what is
suggested in the news article, the OHA believes that physician leadership is essential to effective decision-making in
hospitals. This does not mean, however, that hospital bylaws should remain frozen in the past. The health care system
is rapidly changing and hospital bylaws need to be modernized in order to improve accountability, and keep pace with
progressive new ideas in health system governance and contemporary legislative and public policy imperatives;
•A number of recent substantive criticisms regarding the OHA Hospital Prototype are about topics previously included in
the 2003 Joint OMA/OHA version of the bylaws;
•The OHA believes that it is reasonable for hospital boards to request that in return for the ability to access hospital
resources, physicians should be asked to agree to a reasonable and balanced set of accountabilities. The OHA believes
that paying proper consideration to the reputation of the hospital, being asked to ensure appropriate and efficient use of
hospital resources and participate in committee work are reasonable expectations to ask of physicians and in fact, these
are already in place in many hospitals across Ontario today.
•The article in the Globe and Mail claims that the by-laws would “muzzle” physicians and cites provisions in the by-laws
that stipulate that professionals at a hospital cannot engage in any conduct that would adversely affect that hospital’s
“reputation or standing in the community.”
•Unfortunately, the article did not include the full text of that provision from the by-laws, which states that no board-
appointed professional should “undertake any conduct that would be disruptive to the Department or Division or adversely
affect Hospital operations or the Hospital’s reputation or standing in the community.” It is critical to note that the
provision applies not just to physicians but to all board-appointed professional staff at the hospital.
•Hospitals have codes of conduct that are meant to inform the conduct of all staff within a hospital in terms how they
relate to patients and to each other. These codes typically establish reasonable expectations regarding attitude,
disruptive behaviour, the use of abusive language, and workplace violence. In the opinion of the OHA, it is reasonable to
expect that all staff working in a hospital – including managers, physicians, nurses, and others – would follow these
codes.
•To be clear, consideration of a physician’s skills, attitude and judgment has long been standard during the privileges
assessment process in most hospitals. In fact, these provisions were included in the 2003 Joint OMA/OHA version of the
by-laws.
•There is nothing in the new OHA by-laws, or the previous OHA/OMA by-laws, that would super-cede a physician’s
ethical duties to patients or their responsibilities as a member of Ontario’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.
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For more information:
Amy Ouellette
OHA Public Affairs
416-205-1433
aouellette@oha.com