Though these types of programs have been operating in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba for a number of years, the announcement has been met with a fair amount of criticism.
Criticism which, in the eyes of Rob Dalziel, executive director of the Victoria Hospital Foundation, is unwarranted.
“These have been around for years in a number of provinces and states. Not all, but many, and they’ve operated well, with a minimum of complaint or unhappiness. And if they’re run well that’s why people don’t complain and there’s no push back,” said Dalziel.
One of the main issues the public seems to have with the program is the concern for the safeguarding of confidential patient information, something Dalziel believes the SHR has adequately addressed with their proposal.
“Saskatoon is the first jurisdiction within (Health Information Protection Act) guidelines to find what appears to be a very workable process that respects the laws of confidentiality,” he said.
“This particular situation ensures that hospital foundations will never see health information, only that the hospital CEO or chairman of the board sends a letter to a certain select group of people who had either sought access or been discharged under certain circumstances from the hospital after treatment and invited to consider supporting the foundation of the particular hospital, so I think the safeguards are there,” Dalziel added.
And therein lies another matter of concern for the public: the ethical implications of soliciting donations from those recently released from hospital.
While that concern is certainly valid, Dalziel pointed out that a large number of patients, specifically those who could be seen as vulnerable, are automatically excluded from the program.
“What the process provides for is a mechanism that de-selects a large number of patients for very prudent and obvious reasons,” he explained.
“In actuality there is going to be a very small number of people that may even get a letter.”
Those who do meet the requirements for the GPDMP will not receive a letter until at least 90 days after they are released from the hospital, and at that time they may choose to donate or opt-out of the program entirely.
“Nobody has to give to a hospital foundation, it’s always voluntary,” explained Dalziel.
“The charitable donations generally go to those things that help the hospital go above and beyond the basic. It may be to update much needed equipment that’s wearing out. There’s never enough money, even though there’s a budget cycle.”
While the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region (PAPHR) has not yet reached a decision regarding their own future involvement with a GDMP, it’s something they are currently considering.
“From our standpoint our foundation board has looked at it, and our position has been that we’re interested in it, and we’re interested in it because it works. But we’ve also said we won’t proceed until we’re satisfied as a board that we can meet or exceed the regulatory requirements before we’d even consider going forward,” explained Dalziel.
‘We’ll watch this for a while, and then we’ll make some sort of determination what we may or may not do. Right now we’re not actively pushing it, we haven’t asked the PAPHR to consider it, but we have had discussions about it.”
-braden.dupuis@tc.tc
