Two hospitals await merger
St. John’s Rehab Hospital and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre are one step closer to finalizing a proposed merger. The Central and Toronto Central Local Health Integration Networks have approved the two hospitals coming together.
The next step is for the hospital boards to commence discussions on the merger and how it will affect the hospital’s operations. The final stamp of approval will have to come from the Ontario Ministry of Health. In July, the two hospitals announced they had reached an agreement and signed a memorandum of understanding that would see a voluntary integration of the two facilities.
“This isn’t about one organization taking over another organization,” said St. John’s president and CEO Malcolm Moffat. “This is about two organizations that said to each other ‘we think we can do things better if we actually come together.’ ”
Part of the memorandum of understanding says the St. John’s name will remain as part of the grounds, and access to St. John’s Rehab from all major referring hospitals would not be affected.
Under the agreement, the new organization would merge the two boards of directors to have one decision-making body and one budget. The two sites would remain distinct from each other and it’s still under discussion whether there would be a name change.
