Bracebridge Town councillors revisited plans for a new hospital during their general committee meeting yesterday. Cheryl Harrison, CEO of the Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC), provided an update on the progress of the phase 1.3 submission for the development project, which is currently under government review.
Highlighting recent achievements, Harrison reported a 50% reduction in alternate level of care (ALC) beds, as well as a significant decrease in the use of surge beds, with employment vacancies within MAHC dropping from 20% to 7%.
Councillor Barry Hammond raised questions about the future of obstetrics in South Muskoka, especially following MAHC’s announcement in May regarding the temporary consolidation of obstetrical services to the Huntsville District Memorial Hospital (HDMH) site.
Harrison indicated that the situation has been complicated by the recent retirement of one physician and two others on maternity leave. She emphasized that MAHC is working closely with the Ministry of Health to explore solutions, confirming that plans to establish obstetrics at the new South Muskoka site remain in place. However, she cautioned that even under optimal conditions, the region would still be classified as low volume according to Ministry standards.
“We want to ensure safe and effective obstetrics at both sites,” Harrison stated, adding that further announcements regarding obstetrics are expected later this month.
Additionally, Hammond expressed concerns over the hospital’s overall redevelopment and whether it continues to face opposition from local physicians. He questioned MAHC’s claim that most physicians who had previously been opposed to the project were now in favour, stating, “I still talk to doctors who are opposed. In my discussions, I don’t see it swinging to 50% in favour. It’s concerning to me and it concerns a lot of practitioners.”
Responding to these concerns, Dave Uffelmann, MAHC Board Chair, acknowledged some ongoing “unrest” but asserted that those in opposition likely constitute a minority, attributing much of the dissent to misinformation. “When I tell people we’re going from 60,000 visits a year to 140,000, people are astounded,” he remarked.
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Can someone from MAHC tell us how many travel nurses/agency nurses work for MAHC? Also can they break the numbers down by hospital? I heard a rumour that a nurse applied for a full time job in Bracebridge, but was denied. That same person was then hired as an agency/ travel nurse. Last summer when I spent 5 days in the Bracebridge hospital all the nurses that looked after me were travel nurses. It would send a positive message to the people of South Muskoka if the MAHC board replaced all the travel nurses with permanent nurses. I believe that the lack of staff for obstetrics and full time nurses is bad management (or planned management), not lack of skilled people to hire.
Where is the 60,00 to 140,00 visits a year. Where is this board chair getting this number based on whay information? Can it be trusted? It eould be valuable to ait down withtjoae affectedby the upcomi g changes and find out how they feel that wouldbe the doctors andd nurses. See if there numbers are reliable.
I agree with councillor Hammond. I don’t believe that 50% of doctors in the south agree with MAHC’s plans. Also how was a 50% ALC bed reduction achieved? Were the beds just moved somewhere?
Will Marnie Dickers be voting on the land deal? With her affiliation with Infrastructure Ontario be considered a conflict? There’s a bad smell at MACH’s Board. I believe strongly they should be dissolved and replaced with two hospital boards each with appropriate representation.