Tag Archives: Paul Collins

03.19.16
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St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital CEO bowing out on a high note

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No backroom wheeling and dealing this time around. When his five-year contract expires in October, St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital president and CEO Paul Collins is holding true to his word.
No contract extension – step aside and make way for a new hand at the helm.
“As I announced five years ago when we negotiated the contract, that would be my last and we’re sticking to the plan,” Collins insisted.
Not that he is necessarily bidding farewell to the world he loves.
In a lengthy conversation earlier this month, Collins spoke frankly of the future.
“I think I still have something to offer in health care. I have a great passion for this work. Who knows what opportunity will present itself. Leave the options open.”
And what words of wisdom will he pass on to the incoming CEO?
“The first thing I would say is they are very fortunate to come into a great community that has tremendous generosity. And they’ve shown it not to just this hospital, but to a lot of other agencies.

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02.20.16
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FTE numbers a ‘slippery slope downward’ at STEGH

city_scope_logo-cmykThey were initially announced two weeks ago and after badgering by the Times-Journal, St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital administration is finally being a little more upfront on the extent of measures needed to overcome a $1 million budget shortfall for 2016/17.
Early in February it was announced as many as four full-time jobs could be cut but as many as 11 positions could be impacted through early retirement and attrition.
Hospital president and CEO Paul Collins stressed at the time the job losses won’t directly affect patient care.
How is that possible? Everything the hospital does revolves around patient care. What else is it in business for?
After all, STEGH’s mission statement promises “To deliver an excellent patient care experience . . .”
Notably absent from early discussions with the hospital was any mention of closing the outpatient lab and reducing its gastric diagnostic imaging services from four days a week to two, resulting in reduced part-time hours for medical radiology technologists.
That only surfaced when T-J reporter Jennifer Bieman — acting on information provided by an OPSEU representative — pressed hospital administration for further details on the cutbacks.
That’s the front-page story in  the Feb. 20 edition of the T-J.

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02.06.16
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STEGH job cuts revive that old two-step episode

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A week of mixed blessings over at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital. On Tuesday, Times-Journal reporter Jennifer Bieman wrote at length on its new role as a District Stroke Centre.
But it comes at a price as the facility will be reducing the number of registered nurses in the Continuing Care Centre by up to three but hiring more registered practical nurses and personal support workers to staff the unit.
At week’s end, we hear of more cuts at STEGH in order to meet a $1 million shortfall in their operating budget for 2016.
That can only mean more cuts, according to CEO Paul Collins. In this case up to another four staffers, although administrators are staying tight lipped at this point as to which departments will be impacted.

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10.18.14
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Poverty is more than a ‘whole bunch of little problems’

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Close to 50 individuals gathered Thursday in the YWCA gym for a municipal all-candidates meeting hosted by the Bridges out of Poverty program.
In a campaign dominated by seemingly endless debate over a home for the police service, those enjoying a simple lunch at the Y were seeking any sign of hope from candidates on grass-roots issues like poverty, homelessness and low-paying jobs.
For the most part, they had to chew on simplistic campaign fodder.
In fact, a couple of the candidates put forth an embarrassingly feeble effort as they attempted to answer the question, “How do you address poverty in St. Thomas?”
One individual spent most of his allotted time pushing his over-inflated bio on those in attendance and then dropped this clinker, “poverty is a whole bunch of little problems.”
Nice to know whether you can afford to pay the rent or buy food when there is too much month at the end of the money is one of those “little problems.”
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12.14.13
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Who is accountable for accountability?

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It was a rubber-stamp item on Monday’s city council agenda; authorizing the deposit of $59,047.62 into a reserve account of Valleyview Home.
The money is the final distribution of funds from the estate of Ralph Counsell, a former Valleyview resident who donated $400,000 to Valleyview with the stipulation the money be used in the activation department for the benefit of residents.
The activation department is responsible for the recreation, therapeutic and social activities of the residents.
In a report to council in November of last year, Valleyview staff recommended items like a Karaoke machine, bingo machine and cards, televisions, decorations and a movie projector, among other things, be purchased.
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08.24.13
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Closing the hospital labs? We’ll notify you about that

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An upbeat interview in Friday’s Times-Journal with Paul Jenkins, the new executive director of the St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital Foundation.
He is the individual who assumes the position previously held by Allan Weatherall who, like Malcolm Hopkins, didn’t fit into the long-term game plan of hospital CEO Paul Collins.
Well Paul’s fundraising endeavors may become that much more difficult based on information forwarded to City Scope on Friday.
As we understand matters, the downsizing/outsourcing may very well continue with pathology labs now housed at the hospital possibly about to be shuttered at the end of the year.
We don’t have a handle on number of people who might be impacted, although some of the work undertaken could be moved, possibly to Woodstock General Hospital. The remainder of the work would likely be assumed by a London facility.
A bit of a complication here though. The St. Thomas jobs are unionized whereas the Woodstock workplace is non-union so some negotiating would be in order.
The union – which has to be given five months notice – was apparently notified of this situation on July 11. That would mean the final day of employment in the STEGH labs would be on or around Dec. 11.
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08.17.13
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The reeds have got to go and the ramps are taken care of

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It was a week of R and R over in the Lake Margaret area of town – as in reeds and ramps.
Seems things can move pretty quickly when dealing with the residents who live on the shore of the newest Great Lake.
Council wasted no time Monday in directing city staff to prepare a report on how to deal with invasive weeds – Phragmites australis – a perennial grass which is burgeoning out of control around Lake Margaret faster than senators’ expenses.
Parks and rec director Ross Tucker advised council he had met with Janice Gilbert – a wetlands ecologist who has been tagged Ontario’s leading authority on Phragmites australis – and a management plan will be in the works.
Tucker cautioned it could take three years or longer to win the war on weeds. What he didn’t touch on was the cost of doing battle with the fast-spreading foe.
But hold on a sec. Isn’t Lake Margaret the domain of Doug Tarry Custom Homes? Should the city be committing untold funds to deal with this pesky situation?
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08.10.13
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Time for more pruning over at the hospital

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For the second time in just over a year, a high-profile figure over at St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital has been shown the door, ostensibly because they don’t fit into future plans for the facility.
On Thursday, chief financial officer Malcolm Hopkins was dumped by CEO Paul Collins.
“I think change is a part of organizational life,” Collins said in an interview with the Times-Journal. “I’m trying to plan for the long-term future of STEGH and Malcolm has served this hospital for 11 years.”
Well if he has served the organization well, why was he unceremoniously dumped?
And why was the internal communication at the hospital a little on the vague side?
Paul Bode, chairman of the board of governors, was under the impression Hopkins had retired when we talked to him on Thursday.
“Malcolm just made the decision (to retire) yesterday (Tuesday) morning. He decided it was probably time to retire. It’s my impression that he retired. That’s how it was presented to me.”
An odd way to send off a long-standing player on the team.
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04.15.13
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An Open Letter to the St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital Board of Governors Regarding the Outsourcing of Medical Transcription

The following letter is from Stratford-area health care advocate Frances Simone regarding the hospital’s decision to out-source its medical transcription services. She has also created a petition urging the hospital to re-consider the decision . . .

On May 22, 2013, STEGH plans to lay off all of its in-house Medical Transcriptionists and outsource their jobs to Accentus. STEGH is making a poor decision that will harm staff and put patient care at risk.

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I have contacted Mr. Paul Collins, CEO to discuss this matter and have received no response. As a result, this letter is directed to the Board of Governors and the community of St. Thomas.

The community of St. Thomas deserves to know the facts rather than the public relations spin. Accentus is not an Ottawa company, it was owned by New York based High Road Capital Partners, a private equity firm, and BMO Capital Corporation since 2009. In a merger and acquisition deal closing in November 2012, Accentus was sold to Nuance Communications. Nuance Communications is a multinational corporation headquartered in Massachusetts, whose CEO earned $37,077,679 million total calculated compensation in 2012.
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