Problems and Purpose
In the late 2000s Northumberland Hills Hospital experienced repeated budget deficits. The hospital's board needed to cut the hospital's services in order to balance the budget. Ontario's Local Health System Integration Act, 2006, required the hospital to seek public input before changing services. Accordingly, the hospital's board developed a plan, called a collaborative budget strategy -- formally entitled "Shared Challenge, Shared Solution" -- to elicit this public input.
