Royal University Hospital: $7.5 million blunder and nobody is accountable

Royal University Hospital:
$7.5 million blunder and nobody is accountable

Nipawin - October 24, 2000 - by: Mario deSantis

rewire
the minds
I am overwhelmed by the degree of corruption and incompetence shown by our politicians

and health care leaders, in this province and across Canada as well. Yesterday, I apologized

to Mr. Warren Lindberg for questioning the numbers he used to justify the re-dimensioning

of our health districts⁽¹⁾. I certainly don't agree with the isolated perception that we would

save more money by reducing the number of districts when our own Tin Pot Dictators are

incompetent and cover their assets by continuously shifting the blame to either other people

or to inadequate organizational settings. Before we reorganize our health care settings and

change the number of districts, it is imperative that we must rewire the minds of our Tin Pot

Dictators.

obsolete
mind set
I agree with Mr. Lindberg that our health care is mismanaged, however the root of the

problem is not in finding the right number of districts, and it is not in my recently expressed

perception that the problem is in the misspending of our health care dollars⁽²⁾. The problem

of health care is rooted in the obsolete mind set of our politicians and health care leaders.

without
mercy
When we go shopping as individual consumers we are welcome by the businesses with the

slogan "satisfaction guaranteed". But what about health care? No, we don't have the right

to "satisfaction guaranteed", we have the regressive right to express our complaints to "the

health care complaints department." The pursuing of the health care "satisfaction guaranteed"

is relegated to our health researchers who use their MEANS to satisfy the ENDS set up by our

politicians and health care leaders⁽³⁾. The result is that many health specialists leave the

province⁽⁴⁾ and the sold out researchers continue to stay and support the ENDS of our

politicians and health care leaders. And you know how our leadership covers up their

misdeeds? They say, 'management is our job and your health care workers shut up and

do your work in accordance to the collective agreement.' And if you don't have the protection

of a collective agreement, then watch out, our leaders have the power to fire people and they

do it, without mercy, and myself and all of my family know it.

still
doesn't
work
I am happy today to read that our common people are speaking out beyond their "collective

agreement" and are beginning to question our Tin Pot Dictators. Today's (October 20, 2000)

StarPhoenix reports that a $7.5 million computer system purchased for Royal University

Hospital (RUH) 11 months ago still doesn't work⁽⁵⁾. Barbara Abel, president of the local

SUN union, says

computer equipment
hat doesn't work

"People are very frustrated. Money is being wasted that should be going toward patient care. We don't have enough front-line workers, yet we can throw money away on computer equipment that doesn't work. They've become coat hangers and dust collectors. It's such a waste of time and money. Nobody is accountable."

Y2K nightmare
Congratulations to Barber Abel for speaking out and highlight the root of the problem in

health care in very simple terms "Nobody is accountable." And that is the truth, nobody

is accountable, including Steve Hardcastle, vice president of the Saskatoon District Health.

I remember some two years ago when Hardcastle stated that his district was facing a $30

million bill to prepare for the Y2K nightmare. At that time Hardcastle stated

funding

"If an appropriate level of funding was in place to deal with this issue over the past few years, (Y2K) wouldn't have had such a large financial impact in the last year or year and a half⁽⁶⁾ "

Therefore, Hardcastle made the hard decision to immediately cope with the Y2K problem

by buying $7.5 million computer supplies from American companies. And this $7.5 million

blunder is just the tip of the iceberg⁽⁷⁾, and where is Mr. Hardcastle now?

Quadramed
He is covering his asset by shifting the blame of this disaster of his own making to

Quadramed, an American company which doesn't want to do business in Canada anymore.

Says neuroscience ward nurse Dennis Dombowsky

millions
of dollars

"We're upset. It takes time away from our patients. We've got millions of dollars of computers sitting there, and they are not even turned on."

nobody is accountable
Democracy is not voting or belonging to a party, democracy starts with us as common

individuals, by being socially accountable for our own and other people's well-being.

Therefore, we praise both Barber Abel and Dennis Dombowsky for letting us know again

that there is a lack of democracy and that "nobody is accountable" in health care.

----------References/Endnotes:

List of articles by Mario deSantis

1.
-
Too many health districts, managers, by Warren Lindberg, Readers' Opinions, The StarPhoenix, October 11, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

2.
-
Gov't health spending root of problem, by Mario deSantis, Readers' Opinions, The StarPhoenix, October 17, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

3.
-
-
Our biased researches are only a symptom of our authorities' corruption: the only remedies are assertion of individual rights and judicial independence, by Mario deSantis, September 27, 2000

4.
The Mismanagement Saga in Health Care, by Mario deSantis, October 17, 2000

5.
-
Hospital's $7.5-million computers unusable: Terminals clutter nurses' stations as staff wait for software, by Jason Warick, October 20, 2000, The StarPhoenix, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

6.
-
The culprit of the Y2K Nightmare in Health Care is plain Corruption! By Mario deSantis, January 20, 1999

7.
-
Saskatchewan Health Care: Confirmation Of The Most Mismanaged System In Canada, by Mario deSantis, October 12, 2000

Royal University Hospital: $7.5 million blunder and nobody is accountable

Nipawin - October 24, 2000 - by: Mario deSantis

rewire the minds	I am overwhelmed by the degree of corruption and incompetence shown by our politicians
	and health care leaders, in this province and across Canada as well. Yesterday, I apologized
	to Mr. Warren Lindberg for questioning the numbers he used to justify the re-dimensioning
	of our health districts⁽¹⁾. I certainly don't agree with the isolated perception that we would
	save more money by reducing the number of districts when our own Tin Pot Dictators are
	incompetent and cover their assets by continuously shifting the blame to either other people
	or to inadequate organizational settings. Before we reorganize our health care settings and
	change the number of districts, it is imperative that we must rewire the minds of our Tin Pot
	Dictators.

obsolete mind set	I agree with Mr. Lindberg that our health care is mismanaged, however the root of the
	problem is not in finding the right number of districts, and it is not in my recently expressed
	perception that the problem is in the misspending of our health care dollars⁽²⁾. The problem
	of health care is rooted in the obsolete mind set of our politicians and health care leaders.

without mercy	When we go shopping as individual consumers we are welcome by the businesses with the
	slogan "satisfaction guaranteed". But what about health care? No, we don't have the right
	to "satisfaction guaranteed", we have the regressive right to express our complaints to "the
	health care complaints department." The pursuing of the health care "satisfaction guaranteed"
	is relegated to our health researchers who use their MEANS to satisfy the ENDS set up by our
	politicians and health care leaders⁽³⁾. The result is that many health specialists leave the
	province⁽⁴⁾ and the sold out researchers continue to stay and support the ENDS of our
	politicians and health care leaders. And you know how our leadership covers up their
	misdeeds? They say, 'management is our job and your health care workers shut up and
	do your work in accordance to the collective agreement.' And if you don't have the protection
	of a collective agreement, then watch out, our leaders have the power to fire people and they
	do it, without mercy, and myself and all of my family know it.

still doesn't work	I am happy today to read that our common people are speaking out beyond their "collective
	agreement" and are beginning to question our Tin Pot Dictators. Today's (October 20, 2000)
	StarPhoenix reports that a $7.5 million computer system purchased for Royal University
	Hospital (RUH) 11 months ago still doesn't work⁽⁵⁾. Barbara Abel, president of the local
	SUN union, says
computer equipment hat doesn't work	"People are very frustrated. Money is being wasted that should be going toward patient care. We don't have enough front-line workers, yet we can throw money away on computer equipment that doesn't work. They've become coat hangers and dust collectors. It's such a waste of time and money. Nobody is accountable."

Y2K nightmare	Congratulations to Barber Abel for speaking out and highlight the root of the problem in
	health care in very simple terms "Nobody is accountable." And that is the truth, nobody
	is accountable, including Steve Hardcastle, vice president of the Saskatoon District Health.
	I remember some two years ago when Hardcastle stated that his district was facing a $30
	million bill to prepare for the Y2K nightmare. At that time Hardcastle stated
*funding*	"If an appropriate level of funding was in place to deal with this issue over the past few years, (Y2K) wouldn't have had such a large financial impact in the last year or year and a half⁽⁶⁾ "
	Therefore, Hardcastle made the hard decision to immediately cope with the Y2K problem
	by buying $7.5 million computer supplies from American companies. And this $7.5 million
	blunder is just the tip of the iceberg⁽⁷⁾, and where is Mr. Hardcastle now?

Quadramed	He is covering his asset by shifting the blame of this disaster of his own making to
	Quadramed, an American company which doesn't want to do business in Canada anymore.
	Says neuroscience ward nurse Dennis Dombowsky
millions of dollars	"We're upset. It takes time away from our patients. We've got millions of dollars of computers sitting there, and they are not even turned on."

nobody is accountable	Democracy is not voting or belonging to a party, democracy starts with us as common
	individuals, by being socially accountable for our own and other people's well-being.
	Therefore, we praise both Barber Abel and Dennis Dombowsky for letting us know again
	that there is a lack of democracy and that "nobody is accountable" in health care.

----------References/Endnotes:

	List of articles by Mario deSantis

1. -	Too many health districts, managers, by Warren Lindberg, Readers' Opinions, The StarPhoenix, October 11, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

2. -	Gov't health spending root of problem, by Mario deSantis, Readers' Opinions, The StarPhoenix, October 17, 2000, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

3. - -	Our biased researches are only a symptom of our authorities' corruption: the only remedies are assertion of individual rights and judicial independence, by Mario deSantis, September 27, 2000

4.	The Mismanagement Saga in Health Care, by Mario deSantis, October 17, 2000

5. -	Hospital's $7.5-million computers unusable: Terminals clutter nurses' stations as staff wait for software, by Jason Warick, October 20, 2000, The StarPhoenix, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

6. -	The culprit of the Y2K Nightmare in Health Care is plain Corruption! By Mario deSantis, January 20, 1999

7. -	Saskatchewan Health Care: Confirmation Of The Most Mismanaged System In Canada, by Mario deSantis, October 12, 2000