Huntsville Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano urged all residents to attend a meeting by the task force looking into the future hospital model for the area. The meeting in Huntsville will be held on Thursday, August 31 at 7 p.m. at the Active Living Centre.
Members of the Capital Plan Development Task Force, appointed by the board of MAHC, will elaborate on three hospital models being considered. The three models are: two sites (but different from the existing ones), one centrally located hospital site, or one outpatient and one inpatient site. More information will be provided at the meeting about these options. The task force will study these options and make a recommendation to the board of MAHC, which has stated that its preferred option is one centrally located hospital site.
“What’s important is that the public get out to these meetings to see what the hospital is proposing right now or this capital planning task force is proposing,” said Terziano at Monday’s council meeting in Port Sydney. “If you can’t get out to the meeting, get on the website and do the survey. It is really important that the community do the survey feedback.”
It’s the only way this task force is going to know where the community stands Huntsville Deputy Mayor Karin Terziano
Councillor Brian Thompson also spoke on the issue and told council and those in attendance that he was part of a delegation that met with Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins on Monday. Among those in attendance, he said, was Capital Plan Development Task Force Vice-Chair Don Mitchell, District Chair John Klinck as well as area mayors.
“Out of the blue he said, ‘Ok two hospitals or one?’” recalled Thompson. “He said initially those he queried wanted to elaborate on why they favoured one or two hospitals,” said Thompson, adding that the Minister made it very clear that the decision as to whether there will be one or two hospitals in Muskoka stops with him. “Then he said ‘I’m not committed to a single hospital solution to this,’ he made that very clear and then he went on to say that he understood that the cost of having two hospitals would be more maybe than one, but then cost should not be the determining factor in a situation like this. And then he elaborated that he understands the economics of having hospitals in smaller and rural communities.”
Thompson said he came out of the meeting feeling “quite good.”
Again, the meeting in Huntsville takes place Thursday at the Active Living Centre. You can find other meeting dates on the Muskoka Algoquin Healthcare website here and the survey here.
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I thought it was settled. I must be living under a rock. I agree, two hospitals. Done like dinner.
Further to this story, when asked what their preference would be to having a single hospital or two in Muskoka, all elected officials present, including Muskoka Lakes Mayor Don Furniss, Bracebridge Mayor Graydon Smith, Gravenhurst Mayor Paisley Donaldson, District Chair John Klink and me, representing Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison answered that we favoured two hospitals.
I am sorry that I am out of town until next week and would like to attend. However, as much as I feel that Councillor Thompson is doing his best to recall Dr. Hoskins’ words, I don’t think there would be any discussion if it wasn’t a matter of cost being a factor. No doubt the call will be made ultimately by the Minister, but it no doubt will also be a matter of potential political manipulation of the electorate. So my cynical side asks, who supports the Liberals and who supports Mr. Miller?