Aug 27, 2008 - 11:38 AM

By Kristen Calis

AJAX -- The body that oversees local health planning acted within the law by not consulting the public before approving changes at the Ajax-Pickering hospital, three judges ruled Friday.

The Ontario Public Services Employees Union (OPSEU) took the Central East Local Health Integration Network (CE LHIN) to court on July 11, requesting a judicial review of its approval of the Rouge Valley Health System's plan to move 20 mental health beds from Ajax-Pickering to Centenary hospital in Scarborough without first consulting the public. Now, more than a month later, a panel of three judges of the Divisional Court of the Ontario Supreme Court of Justice has ruled the CE LHIN acted within its guidelines, dismissing the application for the review.

Rick Janson, campaigns manager for OPSEU, said union leaders were to meet Wednesday (Aug. 27) with Health Minister David Caplan to discuss the "dangerous" implications of the court ruling.

"This (the ruling) is a very dangerous situation. Apparently not consulting anybody about a major change to health care is OK," he said.

As the judges could only rule on the law in its present state, the next step is convincing politicians to close the legislation's loopholes, Mr. Janson said.

OPSEU argued in court that the plan to move the beds was "health integration" negotiated by the LHIN, which requires it to consult the public. But the court disagreed, saying the plan by the hospital was an internal one to relieve its large debt, thus not subject to a LHIN integration decision.

"The LHIN did not require approval of the specific measures proposed by RVHS, as that was an internal hospital decision," the ruling stated. "What (the) LHIN decided was to fund RVHS on the basis of its representations in the respect of fiscal improvements aimed at eliminating the budget deficit."

OPSEU president Warren Thomas said the ruling proves the legislation is flawed, leaving loopholes for health service providers to work with the LHINs to avoid public scrutiny.

But OPSEU will continue to pressure the LHINs to continue to do the "right thing," Mr. Thomas said.

The CE LHIN, on the other hand, saw the court's decision as a clarification of the roles and duties of the LHINs, said James Meloche, senior director of planning, integration and community engagement. For example, LHINs do not have to consult the community on funding decisions and hospitals have a responsibility to live within their means. He was pleased that the panel recognized the board's decision to consult the public at all, since it invoked a 30-day consultation period when it approved the plan in March.

"We weren't required to do that but we still felt it was the right thing to do," he said.

Now the CE LHIN hopes to rebuild public confidence and continue to improve the health system, Mr. Meloche said.

RVHS President and Chief Executive Officer Rik Ganderton was pleased with the decision since the health system can continue its plans to improve mental health services in the community.

The changes at the Ajax-Pickering hospital include increasing expert mental health crisis intervention services and adding eight beds to general medicine.

The ruling can be found on www.centraleastlhin.on.ca.

- With files from Lisa Queen.