This morning Parry Sound- Muskoka MPP posted the following open letter to David Uffelman, the Chair of Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC):
Dear Chair Uffelman and members of the Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare Board,
Further to our telephone conversation this morning, I am writing to you to formally request that agenda item 2.1 set for the Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare Board (MAHC) meeting of July 2nd, 2024 be withdrawn immediately. I make this request in my role as MPP for Parry Sound-Muskoka, and as someone with extensive experience in the hospital redevelopment process over many years.
As a Mayor, I worked successfully for years with your predecessors, senior hospital management, the medical community, and others, to get the process of redevelopment to a point where all stakeholders were committed to an outcome which satisfied a myriad of points of view. It was not easy; however, the success of that approach led to financial commitments by the Provincial government, municipal governments and hospital foundations to financially support a two-site redevelopment model.
More recently as MPP, I have called for everyone to draw a breath, analyze what was said in various meetings (and why) over the last several months and strike a path forward that works for everyone across Muskoka and Almaguin.
I realize that much has changed, and continues to change, in both the worlds of healthcare service delivery and cost. Regardless, the commitment of dollars to this project by funders, especially the Province, exceeds what would be reasonably expected for communities of our size. This is an unprecedented opportunity for our communities, but moving forward with the current plan could jeopardize some municipal commitments, thereby putting any future redevelopment on shaky ground.
Many in the medical community, primarily in South Muskoka, are wary or outright unsupportive of the plan. To be frank, too many physicians in Bracebridge and Gravenhurst have serious concerns with the current proposal. I have met with several of them and heard their concerns first-hand. Their wariness has extended deep into the general community. Not surprisingly, residents are looking to their doctors for guidance on whether the proposal is sufficient in meeting the needs of the community.
I recognize there was a modification to your original proposal and, even after that modification, you indicated a willingness to further collaborate with stakeholders on their concerns. My understanding was that the Board’s offer to continue recent discussions with physicians was accepted in good faith, yet only days after a meeting with some physicians and local municipal representatives, this motion is being presented.
Surely you understand that this action further erodes the level of trust necessary for the plan, and the Board, to be successful. A lack of trust in a Board tasked with such important work is both undesirable and untenable.
I fully understand that this proposal has its supporters and that includes many within the medical community but, nevertheless, it is impractical and unwise to proceed in this manner when the Board is aware of such visceral opposition to the plan in one of the two primary catchment areas.
Even if the technical merits are sound, the Board is supposed to make decisions on behalf of the communities it serves, not despite them. Making decisions that satisfy two communities that do not always see eye-to-eye is a tough job, but doing so is essential to achieving success.
A saying of mine from my municipal time on this file still applies. Those involved in hospital decision making need to “look past the end of the driveway” when considering system changes.
This means that the Board, while directly tasked with making hospital decisions, plays a larger, incredibly significant role in how communities grow, change, and function. This concept must be fully understood and reflected in decision making, even when it seems inconvenient.
Mr. Chair, again, I urge you to withdraw the motion as presented. I also request a meeting at your earliest convenience to discuss how this exceptional opportunity to redevelop both hospitals in Muskoka can proceed with the support of all communities.
As the proposal has been at a community level of planning, I have done my best to allow that process to play out and facilitate a solution where possible. That said, should the Board proceed with passing the motion as presented, I will not support the current redevelopment proposal.
Sincerely,
Graydon Smith
MPP Parry Sound-Muskoka
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What is the motivation of this board and who exactly do they represent? In spite of the 150 SSMH signs that were recently removed, it should have been obvious by the number that remain on lawns that this motion did not have community support in South Muskoka. Nor does it have our doctors’ support. Hopefully, now that the motion has been passed anyway, Graydon Smith and the municipality will stand by their word and deny funding for the proposal as it now stands.
Where did MPP Graydon Smith get the power to ORDER the hospital board to withdraw an item such as the redevelopment proposal from their agenda? They are supposed to be an independent board after all. Furthermore Smith is not the Ministry of Health last time I checked. . All very strange that at one minute to midnight Smith shows up after the community was put through this two years of nonsense, division and heartache.
In fact Smith appeared to support this now discredited hospital plan either by his silence or passing comments. Does all this have anything to do with rumours of a fall provincial election?
Thank you Graydon. There is absolutely no reason why MAHC can not satisfy the needs of Muskoka and South Almaguin. MAHC’s first plan was ridiculous and their second plan wasn’t much better. I was born in the Burks Falls Hospital raised in Kearney and have lived and worked in Almaguin, Huntsville and Bracebridge. I have been treated in all 3 hospitals and fully believe that if the proposal that MAHC has put forward had been in place I might not be writing this. With one billion dollars a better model is achievable. All Muskoka and South Almaguin deserve a better than the MAHC proposal.
Thank you for your intervention, MPP Smith.