The majority of the General Council for Muskoka and Area Health System Transformation (MAHST) has been selected. This group of 10 people, with more appointments expected shortly from the nurse practitioner and First Nations communities, will join MAHST’s nine member Executive Committee and embark on an ambitious attempt to redesign the local health care system.
“I think this is the best hope for actually improving our system, improving patient outcomes and protecting the calibre of service we currently have in Muskoka,” Mayor Scott Aitchison told Huntsville council on Monday.
Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano asked Aitchison about the appointments. She wanted to know why Bracebridge Mayor Graydon Smith had been selected to represent the municipal sector in the south, while Huntsville resident Rob Alexander would be the municipal representative in the north. “Was Rob actually an appointment of ours or did you appoint him?” asked Terziano. Aitchison replied that none of the appointments were made by a municipal council, but by the North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network (LHIN). LHINs are provincial agencies that report directly to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and are responsible for the regional administration and funding of public healthcare services.
“In conversations with the chair of the local LHIN, Bob Morton, we had some discussion about whether I should be on there or not and I assured him that I thought Rob Alexander was about a hundred times smarter than me and if it’s about making organizational transformational change, then he was the guy I wanted there,” explained Aitchison. He said he’s not terribly concerned about the fact that the Bracebridge mayor is sitting at the council while he isn’t. “I think Rob is actually smarter than Graydon, so I’m not worried about it. I told Graydon that, too,” quipped the mayor. “And I tell you this, there’s probably more people from Huntsville on the executive and the broader council than any other one municipality in the entire region.”
Aitchison told council that he touches base on a regular basis with Dr. David Mathies, who sits on MAHST’s Executive Council. Mathies served as former chief of staff for Huntsville hospital and later for both the Huntsville and Bracebridge hospitals when the two merged under one administration in 2005. Aitchison also said he speaks regularly to executive committee member and former Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) board member, Huntsville councillor and area business owner Sven Miglin. He said he’s spoken a couple of times to general committee member and business entrepreneur Rob Alexander and executive committee co-chair Don Mitchell, who runs a consulting firm and lives in Huntsville. Aitchison said he would also be speaking regularly to Bracebridge Mayor Graydon Smith, “to make sure we’re all on the same track moving forward.”
He also assured those present that the hospital and acute care services in the community remain front and centre. “It may seem like no one’s thinking about it anymore, no one cares about the hospital anymore but this all began because there were some fears about us potentially losing our hospital,” he said.
This is the reason they’re participating in this process to see if we can’t create a system that permits our acute care system to thrive and survive in the existing context. We think there’s enough opportunity to change the way we do health. Deliver those services [so] that we can improve the system and keep our emergency room open in Huntsville. Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison
Aitchison said the initiative is not akin to the people of Muskoka and Parry Sound just “chasing rainbows”. He said he’s heard Ontario Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins is very interested in what MAHST is doing. He said the initiative undertaken by MAHST “could be absolutely transformational not just for Muskoka but across this country and the Minister sees it that way and the Ministry of Health is actually engaged in it.”
The MAHST Council was expected to hold its inaugural meeting last week, according to a release issued by the District of Muskoka, which is serving as the lead project facilitator. According to that same release a full day session will be held on December 1, 2016 to determine “project deliverables, work streams and timeframes. Based on the project work streams identified in those initial meetings, the MAHST Council will name Working Group Chairs and Members who will be engaged to carry out the project work over the coming months.”
For more on MAHST visit this link. You can also read related stories at the links below:
Co-chair for Muskoka and Area Health System Transformation Council announced
About $200,000 being set aside to look at the delivery and integration of area health services
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