GSDL RFP Proves It’s Time to Clean House at City Hall in Cornwall Ontario by Jamie Gilcig

Monday night was a rarity for this council.   It did the right thing and rejected the recommdation from City Staff to give an Ottawa firm the pharmacy contract to Glen Stor Dun Lodge, or long term care facility.

Previously it had been with local long time pharmacy Medical Arts before being switched over under the cloud that was former Lodge manager Donna Derouchie and CAO Paul Fitzpatrick.

Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy, who may have learned what Conflict of Interest actually means at the municipal level, recused himself after our story Monday pointed out that his daughter works at Medical Arts along with over 50 other souls.

There was an odd bunch of hooey spouted, mostly by Maureen Adams who perhaps instead of replacing Norm Levac as CAO should herself follow suit and retire?   That’s the kindest way to phrase what some are thinking about her performance last night that included some scare mongering of council as it appeared a fear tactic was being employed to gain support for a clearly flawed result and perhaps even process.

No doctors or pharmacists were used in the making up of the RFP documents or the team making the recommendation.   Ms Adams explained that a site tour played a key role wouldn’t who was on that very tour play an important role?  I mean if it was someone like Andre Rivette with very limited education and in particular medical training how much should his thoughts of a site tour impact a decision?

I spoke with a few lawyers today and while they all gave the standard boil plate about having to see the actual RFP documents it was clear that generally there is in fact no legal liability if council rejects a recommendation.  None.  If there was language of that nature in this RFP someone really screwed up at City Hall.

Likewise, the process does not have to start again.   Perhaps a Sub Committee of Council should review all scores from this exercise?

CC 1

From our initial research we can’t see a remote pharmacy working with a local provider that clearly is not equally equipped as Medical Arts gaining an edge in any of these sections.

There was some chatter about training, but Medical Arts does extensive training and education sessions in the community keeping the Ramada Inn quite busy.

From the MA website:

For more than 50 years, Medical Arts has been a leader in providing comprehensive pharmaceutical services to long-term care facilities, assisted living and group and domiciliary homes.

We believe that providing the best in pharmaceutical care requires leadership, partnership and dedication to the relationship.

Two pharmacy locations.
When we say we provide service 24/7/365, it means WE are always on-the-job, NEVER a stand-in pharmacy A stand-in pharmacy may lack the technology, systems, or residents’ files; may have insufficient human resources or inventory levels; and may even be considered in the realm of poly-pharmacy (meaning having more than one pharmacy services provider).
Intravenous (IV) preparation  ( resident doesn’t have to go to hospital in other words)
Compounding laboratory
Ostomy supplies (again, no other pharmacy on Cornwall)
Technologies for packaging medication
E-MAR
Barcodes at bedside (so nurses can’t make drug administration errors)
Things you can count on when working with Medical Arts
  • Dedicated service 24/7/365
  • Ensure the residence is in compliance with Accreditation Canada and/or MOHLTC
  • Communicate effectively in English and French
  • Provide assistance during periods of facility transition or change
  • Collect and share all pertinent drug utilization information for each resident
  • Participate in rounds and conduct both on and off-site inservice programs, and staff orientation
  • Present the Annual Clinical Services Report and Continuous Quality Improvement Assessment(satisfaction survey)
  • Supply and maintain all pertinent equipment and supplies
Other Key Features
  • Certified Geriatric Pharmacists
  • Seamlessly bilingual
  • Community-based
  • Established since 1956
  • Technologically advanced (barcodes at bedside)
  • Certified compounding laboratory
  • Only local supplier of ostomy supplies, Insulin pump supplies, IV and parenteral nutrition preparation
  • LTC is the major focus
MONTHLY NEWSLETTERS STAFF EDUCATION
 
 
Looking at all of that and adding into it the “local impact” factor which for some reason isn’t in the RFP,  one wonders who was scoring and if they perhaps forgot to count or made an error, or two, or three?
While you can’t give points for being local, you can consider the local impact.  Speed of service, and while the city does not incur a cost taxpayers do if they have to transport services.   Councilor Dupelle pointed out that many at GSDL use Medical Arts before they become residents and would feel better with the same support.  He, and Councilors Elaine MacDonald and Andre Rivette made some strong points for supporting the local provider.
So we need council to take last night and follow through.  We need for them, if not the public itself, to see these scores that Councilor Murphy so defended.   (Good luck running for mayor after that performance David)
The vote was 6-2 to reject the motion to run with the Nepean firm again.   Councilors  David Murphy and Claude Macintosh wanted to not support locally, while acting mayor Justin Towndale, Maurice Dupelle, Mark MacDonald, Andre Rivette, Carilyne Hebert, and Elaine MacDonald voted to reject.
Those six may truly earn our thanks if the proper analysis and resolution of this mess is done which should resolve with a positive result for our community.
As for Ms Adams and whoever supported this hot mess?  Clearly they were humiliated at a live Council meeting.   Clearly their judgement has been questioned, and deservedly so.
Clearly it may be time for more change internally at City Hall and not just of elected officials.
As for the “local” angle.  It is critical to a community.   People need jobs.  We all need to make a living and survive.
Even humble newspaper editors who get boycotted for defending their community in the face of fear and ignorance, tossed in with some hideous conspiratorial corruption.
One of the lawyers I spoke with said that when called by the Agape for example they declined to support their call for cash because Agape uses an Ottawa law firm when there are some good lawyers, some even struggling in this economy, right here in Cornwall.
Is there really a reason for Cornwall to use a high priced Ottawa law firm for its basic services too?
Monday night’s meeting can be the beginning of something great or it could have just been bad theatre.
Audio from the Council meeting.

We’ll be updating this story as more information becomes available.
.
What do you think dear CFN viewers?  You can post your comments below.

41 Comments

  1. Not only is the locally owned and staffed Medical Arts the choice of Cornwall’s absolutely finest retirement residence (Riverdale Terrace) …it is smooth running, full service, and walk-in accessible for information, and face to face consultation and counselling. It is simply the best value for the community and fully serves the needs of Cornwall’s seniors whether living in private or public facilities.
    But that’s only from experience and observation… not the suspect motivations of some city staffers.

  2. Hopefully this was the beginning of something great. Perhaps there are a few around the horseshoe that have not only found their conscience but also the ability to use their own critical thinking rather than adhering to outside influence.

  3. Whether Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy decided to declare C of I due to Monday’s CFN article or he’s beginning to understand what Cof I and other requirements of his job are I guess we’ll never know. Perhaps the whole city council is starting to understand what we want / require of them as city councillors / mayor.

    As no contract had been signed with Classic Care Pharmacy there should be no legal ramifications of the rejection of the contract to provide pharmaceutical services for the Glen Stor Dun Lodge. It doesn’t take a lawyer to figure that one out. I see what was said by city staff on Monday as hoping not to have to do the work over again on the same RFP.

    But do we really need another sub-committee or committee to discuss / figure something out??. Doesn’t this city / city council have enough sub-committees or committees??

  4. Just curious….does the mayor’s daughter work for Medical Arts Pharmacy or GSDL? Another news outlet says she works for GSDL.

  5. Author

    For Medical Arts

  6. This may not be a popular point of view, but I am on the side of MacIntosh and Murphy. (did I really just say that?).

    Having experience in procurement with public funds, the wrong decision was made by rejecting this recommendation. While it’s all well and good to want to support local businesses, the procurement process must be followed. Only one local company submitted a bid out of a total of six bids. It would be a dangerous and slippery slope to begin awarding contracts to companies because they are local (patronage?), as opposed to awarding it to the bidder that makes the most economical and practical sense, regardless of place of origin. The reason procurement policies are in place are to protect the taxpayers dollars. Otherwise council, or any other public entities, could begin awarding all contracts to their buddies, cousins, uncles twice removed, and justify it by saying they are supporting local businesses. If local companies wanted the business, more than one would have applied.

  7. What happened to Jules on this one , no comment trashing Cornwall WOW !
    Wonders never cease.
    At any rate in my opinion City Council made an error they will live to regret ,
    only Murphy and Macintosh understood the situation correctly .
    .

  8. I have never been eye to eye with Jean Beasceau until now and I am looking at it in a more real form. Tiny Cornwall may not be able to supply the necessary meds to Glen Stor Dun or any hospital because they purchase in bulk. If a local drug store supplied the drugs in Cornwall it would depleat everything from Medical Arts or any other local drug store. The company in Ottawa sounds like a “distribution centre” and not a regular drug store and this is what I am trying to get my message across. You can make a description like what Tannis does in the food distgribution where it goes to many stores from Ottawa to Cornwall and beyond. This is something that you cannot just jump on and that is why Cornwall stayed behind and never went ahead. If you have that mentality then forget about jobs and growth you will remain in an economic depression forever.

  9. Medical Arts Pharmacy is more than capable of supplying GSDL with its prescription needs. When my mother was in a LTC facility, in Ottawa, the pharmacy they used was smaller than MAP. The company in Nepean is basically a distribution centre for LTC facilities. Supplying GSDL would not deplete MAP stock, as most pharmacies know how to manage their inventory.

    Of course Cornwall is too small to handle things like this. Yeap, okay!! I’m sure MAP and other pharmacies provide pharmaceutical services to the other LTC facilities in the area.

  10. Author

    Medical Arts took care of the lodge for over 30 years before Ms Derouchie fired them. I have a hunch, having seen their facilities in action, that they can more than competently handle any long term care facility.

  11. I can say one thing here about Ms. Derouchie is that she screwed up badly in everything that she touched and she was able to keep her job while Diane Shay and others got fired for speeking out and this is what Cornwall is all about including hiring of family and throwing others to the ditch. if Medical Arts was so competent before why would Ms. Derouchie let them all go. There must be some reason behind all of this fiasco. Nobody is talking here about why Ms. Derouchie did what she did – what is behind all of this? All what we have had for many long years in Coirnwall is everything is hidden from the public and that has to stop. For God sake Lez and any other mayor and council be upfront with the public or else leave office. You Lez and council sound more like the incompetents who ran Ontario into the ground as well as on Parliament Hill here in Ottawa – total corruption and incompetence and that is who is running the show.

  12. @ Jean Beausceau. You mention “It would be a dangerous and slippery slope to begin awarding contracts to companies because they are local (patronage?)” That seems true if you’re talking commodity items like buying road salt or equipment. But this is health care. What if there was a bid for a doctor to attend the Lodge, and that doctor lives far away and drives to Cornwall for a few hours a day. Doesn’t make sense. Old people who have health issues, and especially those who in their last days of life need local care.

  13. Jules !
    Back again and up to your old self bashing Cornwall !

    I do wonder about the Diane Shay situation and those persons including yourself
    who seem to be inclined to blame the current Mayor .

    Seems to me that Diane Shay should proceed with her lawsuit and under oath
    the Truth will come out, Diane will win her case, but will you and others then be
    satisfied , not likely as you then would have less to complain about.
    Have a nice day

  14. Thank you Believe Me 1. I’ve been trying to get that message across to Jules and others , whose passion seems to be bashing Cornwall and its residents any chance they get. It gets old real quick. Time to move forward, not backwards.

  15. @ Believe Me, the truth did come out. The city pleaded guilty and was fined. But Ms. Shay still has a suit to resolve. Everyone will be satisfied when that happens except for the fact that the abuse and suffering she experienced will never be completely erased. And the case should never be forgotten either b/c at the heart of it was the abuse of a senior. What if that had been your Mom or Dad? Diane Shay should have been thanked by the City for doing her job. She was an important City manager when the abuse happened not a nurse at Glen Stor as local papers often report.

  16. I have a question and an important question “WHERE IS MS DEROUCHIE”? Did Ms Derouchie keep her job? If Medical Arts was so good for 30 or more years what is the reason for Ms. Derouchie to fire the gang at that pharmacy? So much needs to be answered and not one word at all about Ms. Derouchie in all this mess that was created. I feel very sorry for Mrs. Shay and nursing is one of the hardest jobs that you can ever do and the most responsible. Someone has to come good for this mess. Ms. Derouchie is a nursing supervisor of some sort and she is responsible for what happened at the Glen. I wouldn’t put my parents in such a place if they were alive and my eldest sister wanted them there and thank God mom wanted to die first and dad as well. Everything in Cornwall is swept under the rug and yes Believe Me I am back as usual and at full swing.

  17. Author

    Heaven help us all Jules. What will you do when I’m on vacation for the first time in over eight years? 🙂

  18. Jamie is someone going to take your place while you are on vacation? If someone is going to replace you then I guess that I will be driving that person nuts. LOL LOL. ROLF! One thing is true Jamie is that you need a vacation and for how long is your vacation? I hope that you will have a good rest and at least you can have a good laugh thinking about all the stuff that I have posted even the ones that you left off – maybe good for your book. LOL LOL. ROLF! It will be a winner of a book with all that content.

  19. Author

    Imagine Jules. Two weeks of no Cornwall drama for moi 🙂 Reg Coffey will be guest editor and we’ll be having some guest writers. Hopefully our regular commentators will be on their best behavior….

  20. Good Jamie Reg will be on board. I will try my best to be good but you know me that is hard to do and I cannot promise much. LOL LOL. ROLF! Jamie you need a good rest and take time to relax. Reg will look after things and keep things humming away. I am looking forward to see new things and for you to come back rested and healthy. Tomorrow I will be busy cleaning and even moving my husband’s computer back into another room where he had his before. I am never without tons of work to get done around here. Best of luck to Reg taking over for you Jamie and have a great vacation.

  21. Jules, Jules, Jules…..so much anger. Let it go.

    I doubt if Ms Derouchie was a nursing supervisor she would have anything to do with having Medical Arts Pharmacy replaced as the supplier of pharmaceutical services for GSDL.

    Most LTC facilities are excellent. They get bad reputations from singular incidences.

  22. “Jimmy Olsen”,
    Your comments are very true, regarding the horrific treatment of Diane Shay by our City ! What was even worse, was the grand-standing by Leslie O, during the election , where he was championing her cause, to anyone who would listen ? After the election, he literally threw her under the bus, again ! Where did those pledges of support go Leslie ? Probably the same place that your other ones went ?

  23. Hugger, do a search of news about it. It was nurse Derouchie who got rid of the pharmacy and brought in the out of town one. No RFP. That came later because people demanded it. But to your point about being local Cornwall has local police, paramedics, doctors, a great hospital and city run nursing home. Why would it not have local pharmacy service..it costs taxpayers nothing. As has been said, the pharmacy gets paid by the Ontario government. Same as doctors. So Hugger, you are right, there should be points for being local.

  24. Soc…. I did do a search about it and nothing came back.

    If a nurse could change pharmaceutical suppliers there was something seriously wrong with the system at that time.

    Yes, Cornwall does have local police, paramedics, doctors, a great hospital and even a great LT C facility. There are many other good things about Cornwall including non-government run LTC facilities. If at all possible local companies should be given a helping hand.

  25. Author

    Hugger Ms Derouchie was the Administrator of GSDL.

  26. Thanks Jamie. From others commenter I was given the impression she was a nurse at GSDL. There is a big difference between nurse and administrator.

  27. Regarding this topic, it would be so so interesting to hear from past, present employees at the GSD Lodge. Apparently, the turn over of Staff at the Lodge was beyond belief ? This , no doubt will come out in the court case, but the City will do it’s damndest to not allow that testimony. So please, staff, let us know the truth ? You can be anonymous……

  28. I do hope that this decision is more than lip service as in the hiring of the four firefighters just after budget.

    In the past there has been at least one nurse who filed a complaint related to resident care with some issues specific to the change in pharmacy services to an out of town pharmacy. The reaction to that complaint was to withhold it and only after it was served a second time did Council receive it. The nurse was then suspended and had to go through a grievance process to return to work.

    Take Care,

    Diane Shay

  29. Mrs. Derouchie’s position at the Glen would be Chief Administrative Supervisor of Nurses and not some ward nurse. Her duties is to oversee all the nurses of the hospital and be in charge of all medications, etc. Mrs. Derouchie would be the one who was responsible to hire the pharmacy in Ottawa and let go the local Cornwall pharmacy for whatever reason she had. Her duties is to hire and fire nursing staff and make reports to the health department. Mrs. Derouchie should be called on the stand if a court case comes up and has to come good for whatever actions she took. I hope that Diane wins everything and I wish her the best at my end. Nursing is one of the hardest jobs that one could ever undertake.

  30. Diane :

    With all due respect : Might I ask is there a reason why your Lawsuit
    seems to be stalled ?

    If the reason is financial then I might suggest a fund be set up to get
    your Lawsuit moving forward ..

    You are one quality Lady Diane and no person should have been
    put through the hurt that you have been subjected to.

    Good Luck

  31. There have been three whistleblowers within the City of Cornwall to my knowledge with two of us being nurses and the Fire Chief. Cornwall Politicians are very interesting to say the least. Rather than learn from their mistakes they prefer to knowing repeat them. Those choices are theirs and they are the ones who have to live with them.

    Jules,

    Regardless if my case goes to court or not the facts related to this case will be made public
    which should be soon since there are few legal moves left other than trial and I am so looking forward to providing all my evidence (facts) once and for all.

    Take Care,

    Diane

    Diane

  32. Author

    How much did you want to donate Believe Me 1? Are you really interested in Justice? From what I’ve seen of your behaviour of late I’m not so sure. You seem more loyal to a certain politician than the truth. That’s very sad.

  33. Diane you and Rob Hickley or Hinkley forgive me I am not very good at names but he was the deputty fire chief and both of you along with some other nurses have gone through hell and back. My much eldest sister was Chief Administrator of Nurses in Cornwall and it is one hell of a job. I will not tell you who she was. There are nurses on line who would know her very well. Diane my thoughts are with you and with Rob and everyone involved in this horrible situation and I cannot begin to express how bad I feel. No patient should be beaten or treated horribly and no nurse who sees this happen and reports it should be treated like that either nor should Rob of the fire department. Diane my best going to you and others as well and keep your head up dear lady and keep in good health. Cornwall is a very funny town.

  34. Diane :

    Your statement ” Regardless if my case goes to court or not the facts
    to this case will be made public ” scares me , for justice to prevail
    your case must proceed to trial, and all parties who have knowledge
    of your case must testify under oath , then and only then will justice
    prevail for you .

    Jamie:

    To your question posed to me of how much did I want to donate,
    lets just say I would be proud and pleased to donate .

  35. Author

    Really? Would you like to contribute for the legal appeal on the Conflict of Interest case too?

  36. Believe Me 1

    Justice is relative and I have gave years ago on getting personal justice.

    As to your comment yes, you are correct that is one way to achieve justice but not the only one. A binding settlement could include full disclosure or like many Whistleblowers I could just go public with the documents. At the end of the day the tax payers will be informed and hopefully a message will be sent to employers who choose retaliation vs transparency.

    Take Care,

    Diane

  37. Hi Diane,,,, so very nice to be hearing from you, I sincerely hope you are healing ? Regarding your very last comment, re: ” employers who choose retaliation vs transparency.”. In my opinion, you will NOT get transparency from our new Mayor, he IMO, doesn’t understand the meaning of it ! I’m quite certain you remember, his championing of your case during the election, as another writer has stated. But, we all know, talk is cheap during an election? lol, lol, lol, rolf……

  38. Haratio Caine

    Well they trend is to hide behind their legal council at the taxpayer expense. They may feel different once they have to actually pay for their individual legal council once they have to testify.

    Take care,

    Diane

  39. This mayor Lez got in on a bunch of lies and has no backbone at all. If he was transparent as he says he is he would be completely different and he would go through with what he said he would do was to support Diane Shay for one thing. Lez went after innocent children learning to be entrepreneurs and also attacked kids skating and hockey and the Vincents left town. I worked with a man whose mom lived on Champlain Avenue and they were from Ottawa and the man moved his mother back to Ottawa since she didn’t like Cornwall and that was many years ago when we worked in Revenue Canada together. Most people from other towns and cities do not stay in Cornwall for long – it is a strange town that most cannot get used to at all.

  40. Diane !

    With all due respect Diane , your suggestion that a binding
    settlement could include full disclosure, I really don’t see that
    as being an option for you,

    The settlement that you deserve should be handed down by
    a judge after hearing all the evidence in open court .

    Under oath and only under oath will the Public ever get the
    full story of how a rather small group of people caused you
    the injustice you have been subjected too.

    Diane : Again with all due respect might I suggest asking
    your Lawyer about an elected official being sworn into office
    as in the case of a Mayor, and what it implies .

    Should you decide to proceed to court I will be there to
    support you in any way I can

    Please take care Diane

  41. Believe Me !

    In a perfect world a trial would be the perfect solution for me but the legal fees for the multiple witnesses from Council on down would be an undue burden on the taxpayers. The Ministry trial in 2011 was booked for 5 days and this one will most likely be longer since it covers a longer period of time. If common sense prevailed they would agree to a settlement with full disclosure since that would equate to the outcome of the trial.

    As far of the elected official he will be testifying and will require his own lawyer and probably have very limited input dealing with this case.

    The cost, I have a retainer with my lawyer and I am continuing to pay my legal fees.

    Thank you for your concern. I have always believed that where there is a will there is a way.

    Take Care,

    Diane

Leave a Reply