Tag Archives: Cynthia St. John

07.05.10
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In-depth interview with Elgin St. Thomas Public Health CEO Cynthia St. John

Cynthia St. John

On June 28, Elgin St. Thomas Public Health CEO Cynthia St. John met with City Scope to shed light on issues raised over the past several months, including staff cutbacks, her salary increase in 2009 of approx. $25,000 and the status of the organization’s current leasing arrangement with the County of Elgin for their office space at 99 Edward St. in St. Thomas
Also present was John Matsui of Makin’ Headlines, the London, Ont. public releations firm recently hired by ESTPH.
What follows is an expanded version of the interview that appeared in City Scope on July 3. We have not included incidental and background comments from John.
We start with Cynthia’s opening preamble.

CYNTHIA: I’m certainly committed to be as open and honest as I can be. Part of the challenge is matters of property, personnel and labour relations are closed-session board items and so it becomes a challenge in how you talk about them. Hopefully today we are able to have a conversation and share as much information as we can with each other. If there is something I’m not saying it’s because of that. It’s nothing to do with anything else.
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07.03.10
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A commitment to honesty at Elgin St. Thomas Public Health

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Deep-rooted concerns about her ability to adhere to privacy guidelines have proven a challenge to Elgin St. Thomas Public Health CEO Cynthia St. John in dealing with City Scope on matters of property, personnel and labour relations.
Her steadfast gatekeeper approach to preserving confidentiality is in contrast to other healthcare institutions, such as Elgin-St. Thomas General Hospital, which have been decidedly more forthcoming with the media when dealing with staff cutbacks and restructuring.
In an effort to open up the channels of communication, St. John and newly-hired PR guru John Matsui
agreed to sit down with City Scope earlier this week.
“I’m certainly committed to be as open and honest as I can be,” said St. John, to kick off the dialogue.
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06.26.10
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Is the (spin) doctor in at Elgin St. Thomas Public Health?

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To paraphrase American social historian and educator Daniel J. Boorstin, some organizations are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers.
The latter is the case with Elgin St. Thomas Public Health, which has signed on the services of John Matsui of London, Ont., to address “communication issues” at the Edward Street organization which has cut loose seven employees in recent months and is now inviting proposals for “a physical needs assessment regarding the needs of general space for all ESTPH programs and services.”
When you pare back the bafflegab, they may be looking for new office space.
Matsui, who bills himself as a public relations/ public consultation specialist – dealing in the environment, technology and healthcare, confirmed to City Scope his working arrangement with ESTPH.
You can rest assured his first priority will not be puff pieces on the delivery of health services to St. Thomas and area. The past few months have prompted a litany of questions dealing with management decisions and the corporate direction adopted by CEO Cynthia St. John.
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06.22.10
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Elgin St. Thomas Public Health retains services of public relations firm

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City Scope this afternoon confirmed Elgin St. Thomas Public Health has hired a London, Ont., public relations firm, Makin’ Headlines. Company president John Matsui confirmed he has been retained by ESTPH CEO Cynthia St. John to sort out communication issues.
Matsui is billed on the firm’s website as a public relations/ public consultation specialist – dealing in the nvironment, technology and healthcare.
Success listed include:
= London Health Sciences Foundation/
St. Joseph’s Health Centre Foundation
Provided executed strategy that won a $15 million dollar grant from City of London.
– Town of Bosanquet
Created publicity campaign that diffused tensions between landowners and native groups at Ipperwash.
– BFI
Succesfully managed news media and public opinion to allow development of a sanitary landfill site near Ottawa without a single objection.
ESTPH has been the subject of several City Scope posts over the past few months including these stories: Search for greener pastures is costing service to community and When the going gets tough head out on a road trip
Matsui has arranged for a meeting with himself, St. John and City Scope for Monday morning. Full details will be posted on the City Scope blog.

06.12.10
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Search for greener pastures is costing service to community

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You would think with seven staffers jettisoned in recent months, there would be plenty of work space available at 99 Edward St., home of Elgin St. Thomas Public Health.
And with a generous offer on the table from their landlord, the County of Elgin, which would see a 50% reduction in rent with an additional 4,000 square feet thrown in as a bonus, surely office space would be low on the priority scale for the publicly-funded health unit.
Boy, is this corner so not with the game plan.
Elgin St. Thomas Public Health (ESTPH) is now inviting proposals for “a physical needs assessment regarding the needs of general space for all ESTPH programs and services.”
Or, as executive director Cynthia St. John puts it, “The Board is seeking the assistance of a firm to guide us in determining all of our needs with respect to new office space – either in a new building or a renovated one.”
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05.08.10
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When the going gets tough, head out on a road trip

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Last week in this very space we outlined a sweetheart lease deal offered to Elgin St. Thomas Public Health by their landlord at 99 Edward St.

That would be the County of Elgin, which is willing to cut the lease rate in half.

So how did CEO Cynthia St. John respond to this generous incentive?

On Tuesday, 11 managers trundled on up to Owen Sound to check out the spanking new building that houses Grey-Bruce Health Unit. The building has been described as, “extravagant” and OPSEU notes, “At least $20 million has been budgeted for this building, dubbed the ‘copper elephant’ by local media.”

As we understand it, that organization took on the financing of the building and we can only speculate St. John relishes the opportunity to pursue a similar financial route.
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05.01.10
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How could you turn down a sweet deal like this?

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If the landlord offered to cut your rent in half and extend the lease at that rate for 10 years, you would likely rub your hands in glee and declare, “where do I sign?”

The financial benefits are immediately obvious, so why can’t the powers-to-be at Elgin St. Thomas Public Health recognize a deal when they see one.

Or, is executive director Cynthia St. John so bound and determined to find posh, new digs that she has completely lost touch with reality?

In August of last year, the County of Elgin offered the publicly-funded organization, whose Edward Street lease expired yesterday, a new, 10-year lease, with a further option for an additional ten years at a net rate of $13.50 per square foot.

The current contract called for a rate of $25.98 per square foot, so it doesn’t require an advance math degree to realize the savings.

As they say in those irresistible infomercials, “But wait, there’s more!”
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04.27.10
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The thrill of an overtime victory

Posted by Ian:

The overtime in this case is not the NHL or NBA playoffs, but instead the generous overtime payouts at Elgin St. Thomas Public Health.

Cynthia St. John


Earlier in April, CEO Cynthia St. John took umbrage with this corner for reporting her more than $25,000 increase in salary in 2009, in spite of warnings of a tough budget ahead in 2010.

She advised Elgin County council a portion of that raise was due to overtime she accumulated during the H1N1 outbreak. She would like us to believe that must be taken into consideration when talking about her 2009 salary of $150,075, up from $123,627 in 2008.

The obvious talking point here is, why is the CEO entitled to overtime in the first place?

Now we find reaping the benefits of overtime apparently is not limited to the CEO, as two other managers appear to have benefitted from the swine flu scare.

Neither Carolyn Kuntz nor Laura McLachlin were members of the $100,000 Sunshine Club in 2008, yet lo and behold their 2009 salaries were an identical $114,221. That’s a tidy increase of at least 14%.

Nothing like the threat of a pandemic to boost salaries at a fevered pitch.

If Cynthia’s overtime rationale holds true, can we expect the salaries of all three individuals to drop substantially this year with no overtime to pad the total?

And why has no member of St. Thomas council cornered chairman Bill Aarts in open session for clarification of the comings and goings at this publicly-funded body?

There’s plenty of blame to share between Elgin St. Thomas Public Health and St. Thomas council.

04.17.10
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A living nightmare for Elgin St. Thomas Public Health staff

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It seems an apology, of sorts, is in order after heaping praise last week on Cynthia St. John for shedding light on the dismissal of four employees in March.

However, this week, we have reason to believe the executive director isn’t exactly being up front about the comings and goings at Elgin St. Thomas Public Health.

To refresh, this corner passed along details of a media release sent our way explaining the background to the 2010 budget and the resultant staff reduction of 3.45 full-time employees.

Let’s just clarify things a tad.

Seems the four employees originally discussed in City Scope are a separate issue from the above employees, who were laid off in the past couple of weeks.

A topic of discussion yet to be dealt with by St. John.
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