canada in brief

Ont. | Gov't may take control of troubled Scarborough Hospital

The Ontarin government is moving tn assume control of the beleagered Scarborough Hospital. Health minister George Smitherman has given the hospital notice that, pending legislative approval, a government-appointed supervisor will be given the power normally assumed by the board of directors. The hospital has been in turmoil since last June, when more than 100 local citizens and staff became voting annual members to help fight the board's plan for service consolidations between Scarborough Hospital's Grace and General divisions. The government decided to move in after a recent court challenge that the hospital's community board elections were handled unfairly was dismissed. Dr. Hugh Scott, the CEO of Scarborough Hospital, told the Globe and Mail it's much too easy for community groups to hijack a hospital's board of directors. "What this brings into stark focus is our hospitals and our hospital boards are going Io constantly be at the mercy of...