At its Monday, October 21 meeting, the District of Muskoka Council unanimously endorsed Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s (MAHC) latest hospital redevelopment model. Discussions surrounding who will be footing how much of the local share of the redevelopment bill are expected to take place in the future.
The resolution will enable MAHC to move forward with its submission to the Ontario Ministry of Health in November.
MAHC Board Chair Dave Uffelmann and Capital Redevelopment VP Alasdair Smith appeared before District Council on Monday. They noted that extensive public consultations had taken place to arrive at the model.
Smith said quality care drove the model’s development from the very beginning. “In a region like ours with forty-four hundred square kilometers and 21 communities, we need to build a system for everyone—all residents, all visitors.”
He spoke of the public engagement sessions that have taken place, including 40 in-person, 90-minute sessions with groups of up to 25 people, “which I can fairly attest are much more productive and respectful than large en masse sessions.”
He said the significant benefit of the final model is the provision of reactivation and rehabilitation services, which are “things that we do not substantially have today and which healthcare professionals around the province say is a major step forward in care for our community. This is a best practise that more places do not have, that we are building into the model.”
Smith said the hospitals built in the 1960s and 1970s do not meet today’s healthcare needs and cannot meet the needs of the future. “There is no provincial plan for what rural and northern hospitals should look like. That’s a deficit that needs to be addressed. That is something that we will be doing through this redevelopment project.”
Smith also noted that both Emergency Departments are going to be enhanced and expanded.
He gave an overview of the hospital sites’ redevelopment history since last year. He said the board learned that the model they had developed for two similar types of hospitals was too expensive. “It was radically more expensive than our budget, and as many of you around this table have said, we need to reduce the cost as much as possible, and we need to reduce duplication. That model did not address the duplication piece at all.”
He said they stepped back and started again. “We listened to feedback from our user groups, who are the healthcare professionals that we work with on a daily basis. They gave us insights that started to change what we were doing in terms of the process and flows. From January to March, we engaged in community sessions. We acknowledged straight up front that there were concerns from the community that we heard, some more vociferous than others. Healthcare leaders and consultants, not just ours but across the province, kept telling us, ‘You have the right approach. You have the right model, and what you’re developing is robust for both communities,’” said Smith. “We need to think about healthcare as a regional resource, not a resource in one town versus another. That’s not the way we’re doing this. Healthcare is a regional resource for everybody.”
The chart below was presented at the meeting and shows the process used to arrive at the current model, according to the board.
Smith said if finding beds for alternative level of care patients outside of hospital, bringing more primary care professionals to the community, and community-based care enhancement efforts are successful, “we will have significantly greater capacity in both of our sites to address new and emerging needs that we haven’t even defined yet. And why should that be important to you? Because healthcare is changing at that pace. Things are being developed now that will have a significant impact on your health and how you receive healthcare in the future.”
Uffelmann thanked everyone who participated in the process. “It’s been difficult for all, and we think we’ve ended up with just a fantastic result now.”
Next steps
Ufflemann suggested discussions about the local share be set aside for now. “First, none of this has been approved. We’re submitting a major change with the addition of ten beds over the last several weeks, and people say, you know, ‘what’s going to happen with that?’ Well, the whole proposal needs approval from the government, and there are going to be changes; we know that. So, for that reason, we shouldn’t get too concerned about nailing down every last dollar until we know what we’re talking about.”
Former Muskoka Lakes Councillor Frank Jaglowitz tried to get council to defer making a decision. He argued that the cost of healthcare is a provincial responsibility. He said the local share ought to be apportioned based on the population that is going to benefit from the new hospitals.
Councillors Nancy Alcock and Rick Maloney both supported the motion to approve the plan.
“Certainly, I’m pleased with MAHC and the support that the board gave to the capital redevelopment plan and the recommendations for ten additional acute care beds for the South Muskoka Hospital site redevelopment plan. Also pleased that MAHC acknowledged that the additional beds will offer the flexibility and security in the model that doctors have been advocating for, so appreciate that the board had acknowledged that and has moved forward with ten additional beds,” said Maloney, adding that his position has been clear over the past ten months which is “present a model that can be supported by our doctors.”
He said 45 doctors endorsed the model, noting that 46 acute care beds will be able to serve the basic acute care needs of South Muskoka, “especially if there are options for expansion should our future needs change.”
Maloney described the last ten months of the process as divisive, straining the valued relationships of District councillors, a time which positioned doctors to take sides and polarized communities. “No community should have endured what we have gone through over the last ten months,” said Maloney, adding that it made him realize that changes are necessary. He said those changes involve how healthcare is funded, “local share should not be local levy,” he said, adding that there also needs to be a better way for the community to be heard. He said he would advocate for a review of hospital board governance. He also extended a thank you to the doctors who have been generous with their time and provided him with “great insight and sage advice.”
Alcock called it a good day and said she endorsed the motion, as did Councillor Peter Kelly. They all thanked District Chair Jeff Lehman for his work on alternate levels of care in the community and urged him to continue. Lehman recognized all those who had worked towards improvements to the plan and sought solutions, including Armour Township Mayor Rod Ward in Almaguin.
Lehman noted that while the submission is a milestone, many years remain to plan and refine the hospital plan.
Related
Don’t miss out on Doppler!Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox three times per week!
Click here to support local news
John Whitty says
Don’t be surprised Muskoka ends up with a single hospital and South Muskoka gets nothing.
Of course it’s sheer * to spend a Billion!! dollars to go backwards in health care in Muskoka.
Search “this-is-a-marathon-not-a-sprint-district-of-muskoka-endorses-final-hospital-plan-holds” for the comments.
Gert Frobe says
South Muskoka has been sold out by our Mayors Lorenz and Maloney who are keen to ensure this is not a controversy in the upcoming provincial election.
Building costs for public buildings in Muskoka and in Ontario generally are out of control and inflated compared to other jurisdictions. Why is this? There are several reasons too lengthy to go into here but we just don’t get value. Needed are honest non- political outsiders to oversee the whole tendering and construction projects, not the special interest free for all that is so common. Let’s not have a repeat of the new Bracebridge arena and library fiasco or these hospitals will cost $3 billion or be left half finished.
Let’s get value for money. We can save hundreds of millions and use some of that to get more hospital beds in Bracebridge.
Norm Raynor says
Mayor Maloney points out that a change is required in hospital board governance. I agree with him. If the board is elected we would never have been in the situation we were in. The current board does not answer to the public it serves! Also we mustn’t forget that new hospitals won’t probably be built for about 10 years. By that time our population will have increased and in the “plan” there probably won’t be enough beds in either hospital.