Joanna Frketich

6 days ago | thespec.com | Joanna Frketich

Hamilton’s cash-strapped hospital network paid an American company $245 (U.S.) per hour for temporary workers to operate heart and lung machines during a dire staffing shortage. The hourly rate soared to $367 (U.S.) if the temporary perfusionists worked overtime at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) last year, revealed data obtained by The Spectator under a freedom-of-information (FOI) request.

6 days ago | thespec.com | Joanna Frketich

Hamilton’s cash-strapped hospital network paid an American company $245 (U.S.) per hour for temporary workers to operate heart and lung machines during a dire staffing shortage. The hourly rate soared to $367 (U.S.) if the temporary perfusionists worked overtime at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) last year, revealed data obtained by The Spectator under a freedom-of-information (FOI) request.

6 days ago | thespec.com | Joanna Frketich

When the taxpayer is footing the bill, contracts are supposed to be public. In fact, Brian Beamish, Ontario’s former Information and Privacy Commissioner, called on the public sector in 2015 “to proactively publish contracting information so that the public may scrutinize the spending of government funds.”But 10 years later, there is little transparency around contracts signed with private agencies that increasingly supply staff to the Canadian health-care system at a high cost.

1 week ago | thespec.com | Joanna Frketich

Hamilton city councillors will vote Wednesday on a policy that will make it harder to drink on municipal property, including banning tailgate parties. Changes to tighten up the municipal alcohol policy have already been approved by the public health subcommittee, which includes six city councillors.

2 weeks ago | thespec.com | Joanna Frketich

Hamilton will have no tailgate parties on city property, no drinking in parks and no alcohol served during events at municipal service centres — including city hall — under a stricter policy that is one step closer to coming into force. An update of the Municipal Alcohol Policy is purposely going in the opposite direction of more lax provincial legislation, focusing instead on dissuading drinking.