TRUAX: the picture is getting clearer, residents need to attend the public meetings

By Ruby Truax

We’re getting a clearer picture of the whys and wherefores of our hospital situation here in Muskoka, and it seems we don’t have a choice.

Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare is proposing a new service delivery model for the Huntsville and Bracebridge hospitals called Made-in-Muskoka Healthcare which will see two hospitals, both with Emergency Departments and inpatient beds, but with less duplication.

Bracebridge will do most of the day surgery and outpatient procedures like imaging and cardiorespiratory, and their 14 inpatient beds will be for patients who only need to be admitted for less than three days. Bracebridge will also have four ICU beds.

Huntsville will have 139 beds, and that hospital will focus on labour and delivery and stroke rehabilitation, as well as inpatient surgery requiring a longer stay. 37 of those beds will be for patients who are waiting for convalescent or long-term care.

Huntsville will also have 10 ICU beds. Many of us in Huntsville and Bracebridge were surprised and dismayed to hear about the single-siting of services because for years we had been told that MAHC was working toward two full-service acute care hospitals for our communities.

This seemed to be a sudden turnaround. But MAHC didn’t have much choice. The Province has mandated the board to come up with a plan for two specialized hospitals with no duplication. And since they’re providing most of the funding for our new hospitals, they call the shots.

So that’s why the plans have changed. MAHC has been in numerous meetings with hospital user groups in order to come up with the plan that would best serve everyone in Muskoka, and this is what they’ll be presenting to us at their community meetings which start this week.

Please plan to attend one of these meetings to hear the proposal in detail and to get your questions and concerns answered. And keep in mind that if this proposal doesn’t pass, the Province could well say they’ll only fund ONE hospital for all of Muskoka.

Those seem to be our only options.

Here is where the community meetings will be taking place:

Dwight Community Centre – Monday, January 29 at 7 p.m.

Terry Fox Auditorium, Gravenhurst – Tuesday, January 30 at 7 p.m.

Burks Falls Arena Hall – Wednesday, January 31 at 7 p.m.

Active Living Centre, Huntsville– Thursday, February 1 at 7 p.m.

Rotary Centre for Youth, Bracebridge – Tuesday, February 6 at 7 p.m.

Port Carling Community Centre – Wednesday, February 7 at 7 p.m.