Hospital picks The New Manu

Sault Area Hospital has selected a replacement for its president and chief executive officer Manu Malkani, the man who reigns supreme at the pinnacle of Algoma's $100,000 Club for big-money earners within the provincial/municipal public service.

An announcement is expected later this morning, SooToday.com has learned.

The appointment of a new CEO was item 5.1 on the agenda of a meeting of the hospital's board of directors last night.

But the item was quietly dropped without explanation by chair Bill Walker.

Pressed by reporters afterward, Walker confirmed that a replacement for Malkani has been agreed on, but negotiations have not yet concluded with the successful candidate.

Last year, Malkani earned $262,950 plus $10,873 in taxable benefits, an amount that included a substantial one-time pre-retirement payout for accumulated vacation time.

Last December, the SAH board had similarly whittled its short list for the job down to one applicant, but negotiations failed at the last minute and the candidate went elsewhere.

Cautious after that experience, Walker would only say last night that an announcement is possible later this week.

But as of 8 a.m. this morning, SooToday.com News has been advised that an announcement is imminent.

We're standing by to post the news the moment we receive it.

Other hospital news

- Sault Area Hospital is reporting problems with its Lanier dictation system. Lanier is a market leader that claims its dictation and document management systems are used by 50 percent of U.S. hospitals and almost 285,000 physicians. But hospital staff say they need a $300,000 piece of equipment to get the system running properly. Citing uncertainty over Lanier's financial status and the fact the Group Health Centre may be taking over the hospital's dictation service, SAH administrators are wary about spending the $300,000 now.

- Dr. Chee Chen is leaving the Sault. The pediatrician is moving to Barrie to be closer to family members. His resignation will take effect in September.

- The hospital's physicians are asking that the design of the new hospital include a tiered-seating amphitheatre in one of the proposed education rooms. They're also pushing administration to move SAH's medical library out of the Plummer site into the General Hospital. President and CEO Manu Malkani acknowledges that's the better location for a hospital library, but he says the General is already "chockablock full" and something would have to be moved from the site to allow the library to move in.

- After making arrangements with a radiologist from Kingston, SAH nows hopes to have two on-site radiologists at all times, one of whom will be an interventionist. The Kingston radiologist and some of his colleagues will provide a stable staffing nucleus for the diagnostic imaging department, providing more than 60 percent of the required on-site staffing.