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Midland Town Hall Meeting Tuesday Dec 11th 2007
Despite very poor weather we had a good turn-out with over 300
people in attendance.
The Ontario Health Coalition made a presentation against any merger
and will make a formal presentation to Dr. Smith.
We had over 30 people on the executive and committed volunteers
in the room visible with name tags to remind Dr Smith of the strong
presence of the group. Our presentation clarified to Dr. Smith that
we (Tiny, Tay, Honey Harbour, Elmvale, Midland, Penetang, Christian
Island, etc. residents) were all the clients of
BOTH hospitals ... 43,000 year round residents
and over 86,000 seasonal residents.
Our communities are served by two facilities who have divided
service delivery: our tax dollars pay for these services.
We noted for him some of the key factors that have us concerned
about the difficulties facing HDH:
· Ontario's population increased by 1.5% annually, but this
area grew by 17.7%.
· Seasonal residents are staying here for
longer periods of time without local doctors.
· Of Ontario's population 12.5 % were age 65 and
older. In North Simcoe the percentage is 17.7 %. This client
base has more frequent hospital use and for longer periods.
· The presence of the Mental Health Centre plus the socio-economic
conditions of our area are both indicators of poorer health
and higher hospital use than other profiles in the province.
· Doctor shortages continue. Two more doctors, in addition
to Drs. Grieve and McTavish, will retire in the near future releasing
another 3,500 patients into the "orphan patient" pool
- i.e.: patients without doctors. It is estimated over 6,000 patients
are now without doctors. Add to that the seasonal swell.
· 2006 – 2007 year end report, HDH covered 39,215 emergency
department visits and this number has been this high for the past
five years - almost 10,000 more than Collingwood.
· Staffing issues associated with these pressures forced
the closure of hospital beds, lengthy waits in
emergency, a loss of nursing staff and widely reported
morale issues.
· To meet Ministry cost goals, HDH total inpatient days have
been reduced for the past four years. Staffing levels in
ER, 2 North, and 2 East have been cut back.
Our presentation concluded by reminding
Dr. Smith that his task is to do what neither hospital board could
do.
It is not enough to just put a new HDH board in place.
It's not about having new people.
We need a new governance model.
Then we need a new strong board to direct that model. A secular
option is what the community wants. Transparency is what the community
needs. Wide input into the process is what we deserve.
· Dr Smith responded by telling us that the local hospital
situation is more positive than most where a supervisor is appointed.
He has been here 4 or 5 times and that afternoon met with several
groups including the Mayors and Doctors. .
· He noted many accomplishments of the Alliance and stressed
strong achievement performances.
· Two options exist: a merger with PGH, or renewal of the
Alliance. Dr. Smith seems to lean towards the latter.
· He clarified that a faith-based option was not on the table.
· He stated that mergers are more expensive than alliance
models.
· He said he would be moving in two clear directions: rationalization
of services and case costing. Unfortunately no one asked him to
clarify these two points.
· The debt is not a huge issue. He said he has no authority
to address past debt. The debt is $3.5 million. This year HDH will
have a surplus and PGH a deficit. He said he will leave us with
suggested ways to pay it down. He spoke of a local tax levy as an
option but Midland was quick to point out that they already have
a tax levy for the Hospitals and Mayor Warnock of Tay noted levy
fees are being directed to the new Family Health Team set up in
Victoria Harbour. Concern expressed by the community about debt
resulted in his saying he will instruct the CEO to disclose the
financial situation.
· He also noted that there seem to have been deficiencies
in costings suggesting that some improvements there might improve
the financial picture.
· Our LHIN is identified as a special need area because of
seasonal patients and a large aboriginal community. He noted that
there will be changes and this will result in extra funding.
· Repeated questions about emergency pressures resulted in
his noting that extra funds were made available by Federal Government
to reduce wait times.
· Dr. Smith will examine an alternate method of paying emergency
staff which could result in higher funding.
· He noted that province wide shortages of medical and nursing
staff will intensify; locally other solutions for care delivery
need to be explored.
· He has asked management to address the widely reported
morale issues and mentioned a morale survey to be conducted.
· He acknowledged the citizens need for transparency but
has not clarified how that will be ensured.
· He clarified that there will not be board elections. He
will appoint a board after a nominating committee proposes candidates
using a skills matrix to define desirable traits for a board membership.
He stressed that the board should be one able to by pass historical
approaches to area situation as well as have the ability to compromise.
Qualifications to run a complex organization will be a key requirement.
We have already forwarded the resumes of our candidate list. These
were selected based on meeting the skill profile from Ministry documents
and it is to be noted they were not asked to clarify their positions
on any issues. It was simply a matter of an appropriate skill set.
· Dr. Smith hopes to end his mandate in March, but stressed
he would remain if necessary past that point.
The reaction of the audience was largely positive but there were
certainly mixed responses to some of his points. Questioners reflected
a good spectrum of the community profile and seasonal as well as
year-round. All councils were present except for Penetanguishene
and they asked questions about the total well being of the health
delivery systems. Good questions came forward but there remains
a desire for more frequent and direct updates.
Dr. Smith is anxious to hear your concerns,
opinions and suggestions.
He has assured us the solution will be community based.
Letters may be addressed to him and left at HDH
or he can be reached at : [email protected] |
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