Patient Ombudsman Explained

Agency Name:Patient Ombudsman
Nativename:Ombudsman des patients
Type:Office
Formed:[1]
Agency Type:Ombudsman
Jurisdiction:Public hospitals, long-term care homes, and home and community care coordinated by the Local Health Integration Networks
Headquarters:393 University Ave., Suite 1801, Toronto, Ontario
Motto:"Every experience matters"[2]
Chief1 Name:Craig Thompson
Chief1 Position:Patient Ombudsman
Chief2 Name:Michelle Rossi
Chief2 Position:Executive Director
Parent Agency:Ministry of Health
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Keydocument1:Excellent Care for All Act

The Patient Ombudsman (French: Ombudsman des patients) is an ombudsman office which acts as a neutral body of last resort for complaints about the healthcare system in Ontario, Canada. The Patient Ombudsman has jurisdiction over public hospitals and long-term care homes, as well as home and community care coordinated by the Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs).

The position was created in 2015 through amendments to the Excellent Care for All Act.[3] Unlike the Ontario Ombudsman, the Patient Ombudsman is not an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario; the Patient Ombudsman's office is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health's advisory agency Health Quality Ontario.[4]

In the office's first year, it received 2,000 complaints. The bulk of complaints were about Ontario's hospitals.[5] [6] The office received 2,300 complaints in its second year of operations.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Ombudsmen Cathy Fooks released a series of recommendations to deal with the pandemic in long-term care homes, such as better whistleblower protections, communications and visitation systems.[7]

List of Patient Ombudspersons

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ontario Selects Christine Elliott as First-Ever Patient Ombudsman. Province of Ontario. 27 December 2017. 15 December 2015.
  2. Web site: Elliott. Christine. Patient Ombudsman's Message - Patient Ombudsman. Office of the Patient Ombudsman. 28 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171229112152/https://patientombudsman.ca/About-Us/Patient-Ombudsmans-Message. 29 December 2017. live. en-CA. Toronto, ON.
  3. Web site: Taylor. Paul. How can Ontario's new ombudsman address patient concerns?. The Globe and Mail. 27 December 2017. 21 July 2016.
  4. News: Fitzpatrick . Meagan . Is Ontario's patient ombudsman next on the Ford government chopping block? . 2 June 2020 . CBC News . December 4, 2018. The patient ombudsman is not an independent officer of the legislature, however. It falls under Health Quality Ontario — a government agency that monitors quality in health care and provides advice to government and health care providers..
  5. Web site: Jeffords. Shawn. Ontario's Patient Ombudsman eyes improvements to health care. Toronto Star. 27 December 2017. 9 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20180302040125/https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/11/09/ontarios-patient-ombudsman-eyes-improvements-to-health-care.html. live. 2 March 2018.
  6. Web site: Reevely. David. Reevely: Transitions between health providers are painful points for Ontario patients, ombudsman reports. Ottawa Citizen. 27 December 2017. Ottawa, ON. 9 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20180209015704/http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/reevely-transitions-between-health-providers-are-painful-points-for-ontario-patients-ombudsman-reports. dead. 9 February 2018.
  7. News: Tsekouras. Phil. December 31, 2020. Ontario announces death of Patient Ombudsman Cathy Fooks. CTV News. December 31, 2020.
  8. Web site: Turl. Jeff. Patient Ombudsman visits North Bay hospital. BayToday. 27 December 2017. North Bay, ON. 28 March 2017.
  9. News: Benzie. Robert. Ferguson. Rob. Former MPP Christine Elliott joins Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership race, Caroline Mulroney to follow. 1 February 2018. Toronto Star. 1 February 2018. en-CA. 3 March 2018. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180303173927/https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2018/02/01/former-mpp-christine-elliott-joins-ontario-progressive-conservative-leadership-race-caroline-mulroney-to-follow.html.
  10. News: Baxter . Mary . What it's like at the patient ombudsman's office during COVID-19 . 11 June 2020 . TVO.org . . 28 April 2020 . https://archive.today/20200611170225/https://www.tvo.org/article/what-its-like-at-the-patient-ombudsmans-office-during-covid-19 . 11 June 2020 . Toronto, ON.
  11. News: Ontario government names Cathy Fooks as new patient ombudsman - CityNews Toronto . 11 June 2020 . toronto.citynews.ca . Citytv . 11 June 2020 . https://archive.today/20200611164911/https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/06/11/ontario-government-names-cathy-fooks-as-new-patient-ombudsman/ . 11 June 2020.
  12. News: Jensen . David . Ontario Appoints New Patient Ombudsman - southwesthealthline.ca . 11 June 2020 . www.southwesthealthline.ca . Southwest Healthline . 11 June 2020.
  13. Web site: Order in Council 362/2021 . 2021-12-15. www.ontario.ca.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Patient Ombudsman".

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