Christine Elliott promises 'affordable' suggestions in Ontario patient ombudsman role

Christine Elliott is promising to put forward"realistic and affordable" solutions to concerns involving the province's health care system when she begins her term as Ontario's first ever patient ombudsman next year.

Elliott, the formerdeputy Progressive Conservative leader who resigned as theMPP for Whitby-Oshawa in Augustafter finishingsecond in the party's most recent leadership race, wasappointed to the ombudsman role by the Liberal governmentearlier this month.

Her term officially begins onJuly 1, 2016.

'Gaps' in the system

"When I was an MPP, I routinely heard issues from patients andcaregviersabout some of the gaps that they saw in the system," Elliott told Robyn Bresnahan, the host of CBC'sOttawa Morningon Wednesday.

"So I'm very excited about having the opportunity to listen to patients and families and then make sure that the [Ministry of Health]hears those concerns."

• Christine Elliott resigns as Whitby-Oshawa MPP
• Former deputy PC leader Christine Elliott named Ontario's first patient ombudsman

As patient ombudsman, Elliott will dealwith complaints from patients and their families who have trouble navigating the health care system, and also issue reportson governmentinitiatives like, for instance, the move to increasinglyshift patient care awayfrom hospitals and towards home and community-based care.

That shift, as well as the challengesfacing people with mental health issues who try to navigate the health care system, are two of the major policy issues the ombudsman's office was designed to tackle, Elliott said Wednesday.

Not an independent officer

Unlike the auditor general,privacy commissioner and provincial ombudsman, however, the patient ombudsman positionwon't be an independent officer of the legislature.

Elliott will instead report to Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins and although she once held the Liberals' feet to the fire as the PC's health critic, she said she expects the government will take her suggestions seriously.

"It'sultimatelyup to the minister of health and thegovernment,of course, to choose whether they want to make those changes or not. But Ido want toapproachit in aconstructiveway, to suggest changes thatwillberealisticand affordable," Elliott said.

"I don't intend to suggest something that will be seen as being completelyunaffordableand sort of pie-in-the-sky...for me to suggest things that are going to costamountsof money that thegovernmentsimply can't afford isn't going to do justice to patients and families."