Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler
The last few weeks have been a period of high tension in Huntsville in relation to maintaining an acute care hospital in this community. Perhaps it is time to cool things down a bit. The nub of the issue is whether the movers and shakers at Muskoka Algonquin Health Care (MAHC) really have all options on the table for Hospital care in Muskoka or whether they are just going through the motions with their public consultation and intend to stick with the only recommendation they currently have on their books and that is a single-site hospital facility.
Mayor Scott Aitchison expressed his frustration in a recent Doppler Opinion piece, when he said in part, “Now there is a much larger Task Force working away at a new plan to present to the board. All the municipal representatives on this task force, the communities, The MPP, the MP, the new leader of the P.C. Party, even the former Minister of Health are all on record with the position that we need an acute-care hospital, with full emergency, surgical services obstetrics etc. in both Huntsville and Bracebridge. In spite of all of this, the board members who are part of the task force and the CEO Natalie Bubela, continually insist that no decision has been made. What is abundantly clear to me is that their minds are made up and they continue to push for a single site.”
The Mayor’s frustration is understandable because in some ways MAHC appears to be speaking out of both sides of their mouth. On the one hand, they have this Task Force of which they say, all options are on the table. On the other hand, the only recommended option they have approved, by a motion of the Board, is for a single-site hospital. If they really believe that all options are now back on the table, then why have they refused to rescind this particular option as their preferred model? Only in that way would all options carry the same weight. In addition, the survey undertaken by the Task force clearly indicated that a two site “status quo” hospital was not an option. And then of course, there was the slip up when MAHC went to District Council for a capital grant of a 114 million bucks “to build a major asset we don’t have right now”.
There are some good people on the Task Force as there are on the Board of MAHC. I also have no reason to doubt the competence of Natalie Bubela who has her hands full, running a facility that is so badly penny pinched by the Province that she can’t make ends meet. But make no mistake, there is in my view, a significant component on both the Board and in the Administration, that want a new hospital in Bracebridge come hell or high water. Whether they accomplish this through the front door or the back door is irrelevant to them.
So now, let’s talk again about the back door.
I actually believe Cameron Renwick, the Chair of the Task Force, when he says his committee has the single-site option on the back burner and is seriously exploring a two site, acute-care hospital option. I further believe that he, and many others on the Task Force, are acting in good faith. In fact, it would not surprise me if the MAHC Board ultimately approved a model with two acute-care sites in Muskoka, appearing to have listened to what the people of Muskoka want. But this is where it will be very important to follow the money.
I continue to believe that the MAHC Board will ultimately determine that whether there be one hospital site or two in Muskoka, the current Bracebridge site is not suitable for updating or renovation. Hence, a case will be made for a new hospital in Bracebridge on the site at the south end of that municipality that has been optioned by the Town. The inevitable outcome of that scenario would be that the majority of available capital funding would go to build a new state of the art facility in Bracebridge and Huntsville would be left with a 35-year-old hospital. While lip service in the short term may be paid to acute care in Huntsville, the two hospitals would no longer be of equal status.
The last thing the Mayor, or for that matter, the people of Huntsville and East Parry Sound want, is to wake up some morning and find out that they have been snookered. The time to clear the air in now.
Instead of threatening Scott Aitchison with a law suit and attempting to limit his right of free speech, MAHC could take a giant step forward in regaining the confidence of Huntsville and East Parry Sound residents by doing three things now.
First, they should repeal the recommendation currently on their books for a single site hospital in Muskoka. If they are really open to all options, then by definition, they cannot have a preferred one. It would be a simple gesture of good faith to get rid of it.
Second, they need to give assurance that if a two-site model is proposed, neither site will be subordinate to the other and that capital funding would be allocated equitably to both sites.
Third, MAHC needs to demonstrate a willingness to actively work with the municipalities in Muskoka and East Parry Sound to convince the Province to change the hospital funding formula to meet the reality of acute health care needs in this catchment area.
Three simple things to do really, that would send a much needed message, avoid the current stand off and allow everyone to work together, without suspicion, to find the best possible solution for hospital care in Muskoka and East Parry Sound.
Is that too much to hope for?
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Bob–you should read Hugh Holland’s piece today on a more frugal way to salvage both hospitals. The price of the two hospital plan was inflated a bit beyond the practical for a two-hospital option.
I think you should take your own advice, Len. You posted this yesterday: “…I don’t remember seeing a more disingenuous or hypocritical comment from our mayor, Scott Aitchison…”
Why are you attacking Mayor Aitchison, Len? He’s just doing his job for the Town of Huntsville and most of us are grateful he is doing so.
I commend Bill Beatty for pointing out what others have not – our hospitals depend on the hard work and many countless (also thankless) hours that the volunteers in the auxiliary organizations, the hospital foundations, the hospital future planning committee and board donate to our community.
The people who complain about how they think the hospital should be run, might think about what it is like to “walk a mile in the moccasins” of those who actually do something for the hospital before passing judgement on their fellow citizens like Cameron Renwick and Evelyn Brown. Saying thank you, would be a start.
Fact : While I do not know Natalie Bubella personally , I do know Cameron Renwick well. He has and always will have the best interests of this Community at Heart . He deserves praise for the countless hours he serves as a VOLUNTEER in this Town.Tonight ( Tuesday ) , he will be volunteering at Rogers Cove entertaining the Seniors there…His Commitment to Huntsville and all things Health related should not be questioned but Commended !
These are brick, block and concrete buildings. Modifying them to upgrade, certainly at a smaller scale on the Bracebridge property should not be a problem for creative architects and could be done while we still receive our current excellent service. Donors would also not be discouraged from looking at new equipment purchases having to wait for a completed new building before installation. We need upgrades now and as building upgrades progress. It just doesn’t make sense to cut ourselves off donor upgrades until the new super hospital is built.
Len Macdonald: “…The panic created by a few nay-sayers and this blog doesn’t serve anybody. It makes us appear small and petty and self-serving…”
It has been made abundantly clear that if we aren’t “self-serving”, we likely will get left behind the door when it comes to getting any kind of fair treatment from the Provincial health establishment. It is hardly “nay-saying” to protest the unfair funding formula and the high-handed treatment given to our local municipalities.
I don’t remember seeing a more disingenuous or hypocritical comment from our mayor, Scott Aitchison when he said: “Now a much larger Task Force is working away at a new plan to present to the board.” He describes it as some group of outsiders. Scott is a member of that task force. Scott attends those meetings and I assume makes his wishes known. Scott and the task force are going to be making the recommendation to the hospital board. Why does Scott (and the other mayors) continue to pretend that he is not part of this process?
Then Scott goes on to say: “In spite of all this, the board members who are part of this task force and CEO Natalie Bubela, continually insist that no decision has been made. What is abundantly clear to me is that their minds are made up and they continue to push for one site.”
There are only 2 board members on that 25 member task force and 3 mayors. We have heard that the task force is working on only two- site options but that the Ministry of Health mandates that ALL options, including the one- site option be considered. The hospital didn’t make up these rules and Scott knows this, or if he doesn’t, he should. If he is that ignorant of the planning process, and if he thinks that he speaks for all of Muskoka, we should replace him in October.
Slowing down this process and making it a local election issue and an “us vs. them” fight serves no one, except Scott. Our kids and grand kids will have to pay for these delays, not us. They deserve better.
Thank you Hugh for your thoughtful words. Three sensible recommendations !!
If you think you are going to get 2 NEW HOSPITALS … wrong .. way to expensive! Money will drive the decision and I think the decision will not be an emotional decision as has been demonstrated in the local newspapers.
People better consider that one of the towns (may) will get a brand new hospital with all the latest technology and services .. AND the other status quo! Which means the one ‘status quo’ will be travelling to the other for services! The decision APPEARS to be Hunstville expanded and Bracebridge gets a NEW hospital. The reasons have been discussed many many times .. IMHO. When you look at the population of Huntstville, Gravenhurst and Bracebridge it is Approx. 58K. This number will be taken into account and will drive the decision ($$) as compared to other areas in Ontario.
Everybody wants a new hospital, 20 minutes from their home. Who is going to pay for it? Bracebridge – 16,000 residents. Huntsville -20,000 residents. Did you think that the taxpayers in other communities or the seasonal cottagers (who primarily use hospitals in Hamilton, Toronto and even the USA) are going to pay an extra tax levy for our 2 hospitals? And by the way “to build a major asset we don’t have right now” means the township needs to build a FUND, not a building, the “fund” is the “asset.” If people want 2 brand new hospitals, with all the usual hospital services and staff, we had better get out our wallets. We are going to have to pay for a big part of this, either through municipal taxes or donations.
Hugh’s opinions and Scott’s opinions are indeed “free speech” and they are entitled to them. “Defamation” is different. When a false statement not based on fact and is harmful to someone’s reputation, that is “defamation.” Where are your facts that a decision has already been made? Prove that the 2 board members and the CEO on that committee of 25 people (including the mayors of Burk’s Falls, Bracebridge and Huntsville) and 7 doctors are pushing the group towards a single hospital decision.
I believe them when MAHC says that “no decision has been made.” How could they make a decision when this committee hasn’t finished its work and made a recommendation? The panic created by a few nay-sayers and this blog doesn’t serve anybody. It makes us appear small and petty and self-serving.
The obvious solution is to build TWO new acute care hospitals. The first one could be placed on the extra acreage already owned, next to the current Huntsville Hospital. The current hospital building should be converted into a long-term facility, thus freeing up the beds in the new hospital for actual acute care patients. The current situation of having the hospital be the last resort for elderly patients having nowhere else to go, while they wait for a spot in a nursing home, is just plain dumb.
The second one can be on the south end of Bracebridge on the optioned site and the old building could be sold or converted to long term care–or whatever the residents of Bracebridge decide.
There will absolutely be NO support from what is, after all, the largest municipality of Muskoka–that is Huntsville–or points north–for one new hospital on the SOUTH (??!) side of Bracebridge. Since many in the Gravenhurst area already go into Soldiers Memorial in Orillia, it seems entirely unfair to even THINK of putting ONE new hospital on the south end of Bracebridge!! Whose idea is THAT? If the residents of Huntsville will be expected to provide a significant portion of the funding, then it must be a proposal which will get support from the people of this town. In the meantime, if MAHC wants to sue anyone, perhaps they should look into suing the Liberal government for playing petty politics with the funding formula and capital projects. Other small and middle-sized municipalities (especially those in Conservative ridings) may be interested in joining in.