The Town of Bracebridge is seeking a second opinion on the prescription for Muskoka’s healthcare.
During today’s general committee meeting, Bracebridge councillors voted to potentially withhold funding for a new hospital and to hire their own consultant to look at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s Capital (MAHC) redevelopment submission to the Province.
“We find ourselves in a situation where the community is upset and the entire medical community in south Muskoka is begging us to intervene,” said Coun. Tatiana Sutherland while “wholeheartedly” supporting the motion.
In September of 2023, Bracebridge council voted to contribute $10 million to MAHC’s plans to develop two new hospitals in Muskoka. That figure includes the value of contributing a property at 300 Pine Street for the new hospital in Bracebridge.
However, when MAHC’s plan was unveiled earlier this year it met with strong opposition from residents and healthcare workers in south Muskoka, who claimed it would result in significant loss of services for the region.
The local share of the redevelopment project (expected to cost a minimum of $1 billion) includes contributions for the District Municipality of Muskoka ($77.3 million), Town of Huntsville ($10 million), municipalities of Almaguin Highlands ($9.5 million), and the Town of Gravenhurst ($1 million). However, since MAHC’s redevelopment plan was unveiled the District of Muskoka and Gravenhurst have applied conditions to their funding commitment.
The general committee also approved health care consulting services from Medcura Health Care for $10,000 to provide the Town with a third-party review of Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s Stage 1.3 capital redevelopment submission.
Staff cautioned the committee that some information from MAHC is confidential due to Ministry regulations and the consultants will be operating under extremely tight timelines, as the submission is expected to be given to the province in November.
In voicing her support for the motion, Coun. Brenda Rhodes said she’s already heard positive feedback from the community and even members of the MAHC board on the decision to conduct a third-party review.
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The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I say let them do it and if the independent review comes back with little change other than cosmetic, let them pay for it. Lets get on with things before it’s to late. If you had a family member dealing with medical system you would realize we need to move forward now!!!! things are a mess and getting worse
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Randy, you are right; “…things are a mess.” “We need to move forward now.” The $64,000.00 question is: who comprises this third-party review committee – doctors, nurses, PSWs, paramedics, other health care workers, a few from the general public? Experts? Experts in what field?
Probably the biggest and scariest ‘mess’ to me is the severe shortage of doctors. I think everyone knows of someone who has suffered or died because they couldn’t access treatment in a timely fashion. Will these new hospitals have enough staff?
And, let’s remember that DF has an agenda that benefits the rich and adversely affects the middle class, poor, and homeless populations. It’s called privatization. But hey, we can purchase alcohol at the corner store beginning this week. Who needs a doctor!
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Hospital planning is a very complex subject involving many levels of input. Otherwise, it would not have taken more than 7 years already. There have already been an inexhaustible number of opinions.
Who gets to pick the people that will render a credible second opinion? How long will the vetting and approval take? A second opinion that is biased, done by too many uninformed non-experts, or finished too late would be worse than useless.
A second opinion that takes the time to do it right, getting credible input from the full range of properly vetted players, is certain to take precious time away from already overloaded medical experts and is certain to be too late.
Would the proponents of a second opinion pledge to accept the outcome?
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
The 3rd party consultants must be given access to the “objectives and expectations” imposed on MAHC by the government’s health ministry and acknowledged by MPP Smith along with any other “confidential information”. If they don’t know the full story how much use will their report be?
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Local Green Party supporters’ attempts to turn MAHC’s plan into a partisan issue is sad, unfortunate and, frankly, pathetic.
They’re seeking to use MAHC’s bungling of the communication of the plan for partisan gain…all at the expense of community cohesion.
Shame on the Green Party of Ontario and its local supporters for their cynical attempts to exploit the situation for partisan gain.
But remember Ms. Luckett, the knife cuts both ways. So when your attempts to rabble rouse in Bracebridge backfire horrendously in Huntsville/Almaguin, you’ll have only yourselves to blame.
Mel Shea says
Another consultant may be a good idea but I’m sure that it will not change the government that is in place right now anyway. Their minds are made up. We do need two full functional hospitals, that is an obvious issue. What the politicians are ignoring is the fact that by the time what they have proposed for Huntsville is tendered and built it will already be too small for the extra population of bracebridge and gravenhurst that will need to be an addition put on it. It is quite obvious in my opinion, that there has too much politics and not enough common sense.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I attended one of the small group community meetings with MAHC that was moderated by a Doc from McMaster University. One of the things I learned was that the Ontario Finance ministry has imposed restrictions on the proposal according to their acceptable demographics etc to ten years in the future(when the hospitals will be built)-Also it is far from certain provincial funding will increase to enable the additional beds and services added to the Bracebridge, South MAHC site. If the new building happens in ten years not only will likely be insufficient for the following years, but the current limit on the provincial contribution means that the local shares by all communities will need to be significantly increased to build the two full-service sites in the south and the north. That’s more significant municipal tax increases and debt.
Also currently a lot of beds in Huntsville and Bracebridge are serving persons who should be in community based home care or another nursing home that we do not have – all due to inadequate provincial funding and seeming lack of political interest. Reactivation and Rehab programming in both sites would need much more funding and development of necessary therapeutic facilities and not to mention hiring many more skilled professionals. Chronic provincial historical underfunding and under-resourcing has led us to many many rural emergency room and rural hospital closures. The patients’ impacted are made into political footballs instead of getting adequate services. Provincial insufficient long range planning and financing have got us here. It seems to be continuing as Muskoka plans new hospital services for the years ahead.
Kate Slater says
Joanne,
The person you are referring to is Brady Wood. He is a consultant brought in by MAHC Board. I too thought he was a doctor by the way in which he introduced himself. He has a bachelor of arts degree and communications and management degree. He is not a Healthcare professional yet seemed to have strong opinions in favour of the plan which aims to cut beds and services in South Muskoka.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
thanks for the id on the facilitator from McMaster. In the session I attended, in my opinion he did not take any position and in fact was pretty passive for a facilitator. He seemed stymied by descriptions of historic conflict between Bracebridge and Huntsville. I certainly felt able to speak my mind and ask my questions and also to get answers from the MAHC managers present. I also felt that they listened sympathetically to concerns about inclement weather and distance to travel to be with loved ones in hospital, possibly in Huntsville from south Muskoka locations.If you read the MAHC website there are updates about more recent consultations and work to address such problems. We need to try to be optimistic and keep an open mind about working with MAHC on a plan for the future. I have read the Save South Muskoka Hospital group’s latest posting , dated Aug 29 2024, “Care Closer to Home version 2” endorsed by a long list of medically qualified persons, some practicing in south Muskoka I presume. What I got from it is that they want 90 beds in Bracebridge and no level 3 ICU in Huntsville, and services that allow for “slow reactivation” in Bracebridge for ALC patients. My understanding is that they want more labour/delivery and ob/gyn in Bracebridge, instead of the planned single bed in each of Bracebridge and Huntsville sites.Most of us are not clinicians with experience in wider Muskoka, with communities north of Huntsville and south of Bracebridge, so could not begin to knowledgeably comment on these concerns. Most of us are not current and knowledgeable about public financing for such large important health care facilities. I would hope the consultation process happening now will bring resolution so that someday soon a proposal can come together. The Town of Bracebridge plan to get a consultant report will provide more information that may help. In any case, continued distrust, lack of respect, disinformation and conflict will likely get us the status quo with two aging sites that will certainly not be adequate as years go by.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I think both hospitals should get exactly the same things, its ridculous to make either bracebridge or huntsville have to drive that far for an emergency ward. And both hospitals need birthing areas. I dont understand why both places cant be fully serviced.