As my readers will know, I have been writing about the problems over at eHealth for some time. This is the organization that is supposed to put all medical records in electronic form for easy use. Once this is done it should lower the cost of health care management and make it easier for practitioners to deliver service to the patients. So, in theory, eHealth is a good thing and should be worth the money.
However, the implementation of the work being done over at eHealth is another matter altogether. It has run into lots of problems and has emerged as a major scandal. In political terms the scandal has given the Ontario Progressive Conservative party a big boost in their chances in the next provincial election. Because of this scandal, its size, the fact that it deals with health care, and the amount of attention it has received, all future criticisms of the McGuinty government will be taken more seriously. This may not be fair, but that is politics.
The following is the big story in the Toronto Star today.
eHealth scandal claims health minister
Premier scrambles to shuffle cabinet as David Caplan quits on eve of damning report on eHealth scandal
Published On Wed Oct 7 2009
The eHealth Ontario spending scandal has claimed one of the most powerful people at Queen's Park – Health Minister David Caplan, whose resignation forces Premier Dalton McGuinty to revamp his cabinet.
But McGuinty has one hand tied behind his back as he struggles to reshape his embattled Liberal government because Deputy Premier George Smitherman, who is planning to run for Toronto mayor next year, does not want to quit his energy and infrastructure post just yet.
"Things are chaotic," an insider said as worried Liberal MPPs held a late-night conference call to demand answers about the confusion at the highest levels of the provincial government.
To read the entire story click here.
