MPPs collecting feedback on LHINs

People in northeastern Ontario will get a chance to share their thoughts on local health care in the coming months.

A committee of members of provincial parliament will be travelling the province to see if the Local Health Integration Networks are working.

The region LHINs were created in 2006 to give people more of a say in how health care is delivered in their community, but over the years, critics have charged the LHINs merely allow the government to distance itself from difficult decisions.

France Gelinas is the New Democratic health and long-term care critic and theMPP for Nickel Belt. She will be part of the committee reviewing the LHINs.

If we are investing in a way for people to be heard, and bring services more in line with the people it services, then I am guessing a certain amount of money to do this is reasonable,

But, if we spend a whole lot of money and completely disregard what people want, then it is wasted money. And it is millions of millions of dollars that have been invested in the LHINs.

Gelinas says the LHINs were created to give people a voice.

And when they did that, people appreciated their work. When they did not do this, and simply more or less went ahead with whatever the Ministry of Health wanted to do, then people got really angry.

Gelinas said dates for community meetings will be drawn up Tuesday.

She said the committee will include representatives from all three provincial parties, andwill have a year to report back on the work of the LHINs.