Ontario has postponed an overdue review of the Local Health Integration Networks (LIHNs), provincial agencies that dole out $21.5 billion a year in health funding, until after next year's election. The Ministry of Health said it delayed the review, originally scheduled for March, until July 2012 because the agencies only assumed full responsibility for all health service providers last month. Critics and health care advocates though say the LHINs made crucial decisions about local health care(including closing hospitals) without consulting the public or even local health care providers. In a report, The LIHN Spin, released last week, Ontario Ombudsman André Marin chided one LIHN of failing to live up to its community-engagement obligations. Read more here.