New beds for the Bracebridge hospital will not come at the expense of Huntsville, according to Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC).
Yesterday, the MAHC board voted to add 10 beds to the proposal for the Bracebridge Hospital, bringing the total number of inpatient care beds up to 46.
The board considered several options, including removing 10 beds from the Huntsville proposal to add to the Bracebridge proposal. However, the board ultimately voted to add the new beds to the Bracebridge proposal without removing anything from the Huntsville proposal.
“We have indications that we will get the political support to drive this through,” said board chair Dave Uffelmann regarding the updated proposal.
Uffelman added that the cost of operating the 10 new beds will also be incorporated into the new proposal.
The updated cost estimate for two new hospitals in Muskoka is $1.35 billion. That number is up from the original estimate of $967 million in September of 2022.
The province is expected to pay roughly $ 1.12 billion for the project, with the remaining $225 million coming from a “local share”.
The remainder of the plan for both hospitals remains largely unchanged from the model presented earlier this year, except for the total beds in Bracebridge going from 36 to 46.
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Norm Raynor says
When I read the allocation of beds I see that all AlC and at risk of ALC beds will be in Huntsville, but the chart does not show any ALC or at risk of ALC beds in Huntsville. Could someone from MAHC please explain? Also if joint replacement surgery is planned for Bracebridge would it make sense to have recovery beds in Bracebridge?
peggy tupper says
Disgusting that MAHC lead by a person that few trust is allowed to claim the bulk of the funding and spend it in Huntsville. The people of Bracebridge have been sacrificed so that Huntsville can have a bigger and more advanced hospital. Bracebridge people will have to travel to Huntsville but there will be nothing in Bracebridge that Huntsville people will have to travel for.
I say go back to square one and deal the cards fairly. Cheryl Harrison should not be in any future decision making nor be a part of the MAHC.
Jack Lord says
Bracebridge cut by 21 impatient beds from a hospital built in 1966. This was when the existing hospital was surrounded by farm fields. Our new hospital is supposed to last into the 2080s. With a cut of 21 beds (67 to the now 46 bed proposal) from the existing hospital. I don’t have a Time Machine but something is seriously wrong here.
Our politicians need a head shake as do the bureaucrats which all repeatedly. fail us. Maybe it’s time to pay them the average working wage in Muskoka (well below provincial average by 20%) and then see where their priorities are. The golf club elitists need to be tossed.