Elliott gets new job
Former Whitby-Oshawa MPP to be first patient ombudsman
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
Former Whitby-Oshawa MPP Christine Elliot has been named the first patient ombudsman. (Submitted Image).
Christine Elliott has found herself a new job – but she’ll still be working at Queen’s Park.
The former Whitby-Oshawa MPP is set to become the province’s first patient ombudsman, a position created in late 2014 by the provincial government.
“I originally got into politics in the first place because of my interest in healthcare and wanting to help make improvements to the system, particularly in the area of mental health,” Elliott tells The Oshawa Express. “Since I resigned my seat, I’m still very interested in the area, and it seemed to me that this was another way that I could have input and help people with their healthcare concerns.”
As part of her new position Elliott will be responsible for responding to complaints from patients, residents and clients about their experiences with hospitals, long-term care homes or community care centres. She will also have the power to investigate health sector organizations on her own initiative.
“Those seem to be the most troublesome areas right now, particularly the transition from hospital to back home for a lot of people,” she says. “So, I think I know some of the issues, but of course I want to listen to the patients and families themselves to understand their specific concerns and try and resolve them, and in the process understand what some of the…larger systemic issues are, and try and suggest some solutions to that to the Minister of Health.”
Elliott stepped down as the provincial representative for Whitby-Oshawa in August, a few months after losing her bid to become the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party to Patrick Brown. Prior to her resignation, Elliott was the PC’s healthcare critic at Queen’s Park.
Next year will see a byelection to replace Elliott in Whitby-Oshawa. The three major parties have announced their candidates for the eventual runoff, with Whitby regional councillors Lorne Coe and Elizabeth Roy on the ticket for the PCs and Liberals respectively, as well as labour lawyer Niki Lundquist for the NDP.
Premier Kathleen Wynne has not yet announced a date for the byelection.