The provincial government is considering a plan to shutter more than 20 health agencies — including Cancer Care Ontario, 14 local health integration networks (LHINS) and eHealth Ontario — and fold them into one “super agency,” the Star has learned.Provincial bureaucrats have been asked to create a blueprint for a massive transformation of the health system, according to numerous sources in the broader public sector. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they have not been authorized to give media interviews.Describing the plan as a work in progress and subject to change, they said the intent is to keep front-line and core services intact, but to run them out of one agency under a single board of directors and a streamlined layer of management.The provincial cabinet met on Thursday, but it is unclear whether it has signed off on the plan. Following the three-and-a-half-hour cabinet meeting, Health Minister Christine Elliott did not deny the government is looking at getting rid of LHINs.“We’ve talked from the very beginning about doing a review of all agencies in government so there’s nothing new here,” she said, referring to a health agency review announced shortly after last June’s provincial election.“We’re continuing our review and working to create a patient-centred system of health care,” the minister said in a brief interview with the Star.Asked if the government would get rid of Cancer Care Ontario by absorbing it into a new super agency, Elliott said: “All I can tell you is that we are looking at truly creating a patient-centred system of health care — it’s the patient experience that is truly important.”The Star has obtained a copy of an undated Ministry of Health document marked “confidential” and labelled “exploratory model,” which appears to point to the option of a large “provincial clinical and delivery agency” w ...
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