The proposed two-hospital model would see acute care offered at one hospital and chronic care in the other. This model is being touted by the mayors of Huntsville and Bracebridge as an antithesis to the closing of both the Bracebridge and Huntsville hospitals in favour of a single centrally located one.<\/p>\n
Mathies said he\u2019s been speaking about the issue to some of his colleagues in Huntsville and the sense he\u2019s getting is that while there\u2019s still a bit of ambivalence about supporting a single hospital model for Muskoka, the notion of losing acute care in Huntsville is not sitting well with the medical community here.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re [the Huntsville medical community] quite alarmed at the idea that acute care may not be at all close by. So let\u2019s say acute care is in Bracebridge, they\u2019re now saying well that\u2019s totally unacceptable. It\u2019s too far away from people who live in say North-East Parry Sound or Algonquin Park and these are very important parts of the constituency here,\u201d said Mathies who noted that physicians in Bracebridge probably feel the same way.<\/p>\n
The Board of Muskoka Algonquin Health Care (MAHC), which administers both the Bracebridge and Huntsville hospitals, is recommending the closure of both hospitals in favour of creating a new hospital centrally located between the two sites. MAHC has been studying ways to solve its reoccurring financial woes and ailing infrastructure but closing Muskoka\u2019s existing hospitals and having to provide the required infrastructure to facilitate the building of another hospital in a rural area of Muskoka is not sitting well with municipal representatives. They are pushing for the redevelopment of the existing hospital sites, albeit with a different configuration but one that would maintain emergency rooms at both locations.<\/p>\n
The community with acute care at their hospital wins<\/h6>\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2016\/02\/David-Mathies-e1454695005352-300x246.jpg\")
Dr. David Mathies, former MAHC chief of staff<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cPart of the plan is that there\u2019d still be emergency rooms at both sites but what I think our surgeons are saying is they would end up where the acute care site is and would no longer support the other emergency room in the same way that we\u2019re used to. That\u2019s what we\u2019re hearing from them,\u201d said Mathies, who ventured that eventually they would leave town and go where the infrastructure for acute care is located.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see how we\u2019re going in a circle. So a single site is okay but now we\u2019ve got the municipalities saying \u2018well it\u2019s pretty costly why don\u2019t we do this,\u2019 but that doesn\u2019t work either.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mathies said in his personal opinion Muskoka\u2019s hospitals are simply not being funded properly by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. He said when you consider the population of the Bracebridge and Huntsville communities’ catchment areas as well as the transient populations the hospitals serve, it translates to roughly 60,000 people. \u201cWhere in the province are communities of that size losing their hospitals? I don\u2019t know why we are being singled out. I think the funding doesn\u2019t quite suit Muskoka.”<\/p>\n
Mathies argued that in the grand scheme of things a few million dollars to fund the hospitals properly is not a lot of money.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve spent billions twinning the highway up to North Bay, I presume the government feels it\u2019s worthwhile to have an economy in this area and we\u2019re just talking a few million dollars of funding. The deficit is small.
\nDr. David Mathies<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\nHe noted that MAHC has already cut a lot of cost and now it has hit a wall.<\/p>\n
CEO for Muskoka Algonquin Health Care Natalie Bubela was at the Algonquin Theatre on February 1 when the mayors presented their proposed two-hospital model and said it was the very first time she\u2019d had an opportunity to hear the proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of information to digest and we have lots of questions and are looking forward to exploring that with our municipal leaders at our next taskforce meeting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
![\"Natalie](\"https:\/\/media-doppleronline-ca.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com\/2016\/02\/Natalie-Bubela.jpg\")
Natalie Bubela, MAHC CEO<\/p><\/div>\n
Last year’s rallies were caused by this same idea of moving acute care to one hospital <\/strong><\/p>\nAdmittedly the two-hospital model presented by the mayors and consultants is very similar to one of the options MAHC looked at as a way of solving its financial woes. But the two-hospital model was eliminated, \u201cgiven the risks that were identified with the model by our staff and our team of physicians,\u201d said Bubela. She said while there was the possibility that it could work, it wasn\u2019t ideal and it seems like the same model that initiated all the town rallies and the petitions that came forward against service cuts at any one given hospital.<\/p>\n
When asked exactly why the two-hospital model, similar to what the mayors are proposing, was rejected, broadly speaking, Bubela said some of the concerns with that option involved the potentially adverse impact on the practice of physicians and the availability of specialists.<\/p>\n
She also said travel times, transportation and access for all of MAHC\u2019s catchment area, not just the towns, as well as the quality and safety of care was a concern under the two-hospital model with acute care only in one hospital, and noted that in some instances people will simply bypass the closest hospital to travel to the facility offering the service they\u2019re after.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur travel information demonstrated that access actually for the whole area would be minimally impacted by placing it (one hospital) in a central location. And once again I\u2019ll just reiterate we have not picked a site, it could be anywhere along that Highway 11 corridor and until we really know the exact site, it\u2019s really hard to understand from either a volume perspective or from a travel time perspective what the impact will be.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said it is anticipated that with the one-hospital model primary and urgent care options would be better developed throughout Muskoka and East Parry Sound. \u201cSo that people for instance wouldn\u2019t even have to come to the emergency department, they\u2019d be able to get care more locally where they live. And granted that\u2019s not for the urgent, life-threatening type of things,\u201d said Bubela, adding the emergency department volumes are high and yet many of the cases could be treated elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Regardless, Bubela said staff and the Board are committed to working with municipal leaders and understanding comments made during the mayors\u2019 presentation at the Algonquin Theatre, such as the millions of dollars that could be saved under a two-hospital model. \u201cWe want to understand that better.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also said discussions around what is meant by core services at each location needs to take place. She said the taskforce set up by the North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), which reports to the Ministry of Health, is scheduled to meet next week where some of the questions prompted by the mayors\u2019 proposal are expected to be hashed out.<\/p>\n
We have come full circle<\/h6>\n
Mathies noted the Gordian knot has come full circle. It started with rationalizing services in Burk\u2019s Falls then closing down the facility there altogether, to closing beds at both hospitals and laying off dozens of people.<\/p>\n
Dr. David Mathies, former MAHC chief of staff<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cPart of the plan is that there\u2019d still be emergency rooms at both sites but what I think our surgeons are saying is they would end up where the acute care site is and would no longer support the other emergency room in the same way that we\u2019re used to. That\u2019s what we\u2019re hearing from them,\u201d said Mathies, who ventured that eventually they would leave town and go where the infrastructure for acute care is located.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see how we\u2019re going in a circle. So a single site is okay but now we\u2019ve got the municipalities saying \u2018well it\u2019s pretty costly why don\u2019t we do this,\u2019 but that doesn\u2019t work either.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mathies said in his personal opinion Muskoka\u2019s hospitals are simply not being funded properly by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. He said when you consider the population of the Bracebridge and Huntsville communities’ catchment areas as well as the transient populations the hospitals serve, it translates to roughly 60,000 people. \u201cWhere in the province are communities of that size losing their hospitals? I don\u2019t know why we are being singled out. I think the funding doesn\u2019t quite suit Muskoka.”<\/p>\n
Mathies argued that in the grand scheme of things a few million dollars to fund the hospitals properly is not a lot of money.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve spent billions twinning the highway up to North Bay, I presume the government feels it\u2019s worthwhile to have an economy in this area and we\u2019re just talking a few million dollars of funding. The deficit is small.
\nDr. David Mathies<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\nHe noted that MAHC has already cut a lot of cost and now it has hit a wall.<\/p>\n
CEO for Muskoka Algonquin Health Care Natalie Bubela was at the Algonquin Theatre on February 1 when the mayors presented their proposed two-hospital model and said it was the very first time she\u2019d had an opportunity to hear the proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of information to digest and we have lots of questions and are looking forward to exploring that with our municipal leaders at our next taskforce meeting,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Natalie Bubela, MAHC CEO<\/p><\/div>\n
Last year’s rallies were caused by this same idea of moving acute care to one hospital <\/strong><\/p>\n
Admittedly the two-hospital model presented by the mayors and consultants is very similar to one of the options MAHC looked at as a way of solving its financial woes. But the two-hospital model was eliminated, \u201cgiven the risks that were identified with the model by our staff and our team of physicians,\u201d said Bubela. She said while there was the possibility that it could work, it wasn\u2019t ideal and it seems like the same model that initiated all the town rallies and the petitions that came forward against service cuts at any one given hospital.<\/p>\n
When asked exactly why the two-hospital model, similar to what the mayors are proposing, was rejected, broadly speaking, Bubela said some of the concerns with that option involved the potentially adverse impact on the practice of physicians and the availability of specialists.<\/p>\n
She also said travel times, transportation and access for all of MAHC\u2019s catchment area, not just the towns, as well as the quality and safety of care was a concern under the two-hospital model with acute care only in one hospital, and noted that in some instances people will simply bypass the closest hospital to travel to the facility offering the service they\u2019re after.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur travel information demonstrated that access actually for the whole area would be minimally impacted by placing it (one hospital) in a central location. And once again I\u2019ll just reiterate we have not picked a site, it could be anywhere along that Highway 11 corridor and until we really know the exact site, it\u2019s really hard to understand from either a volume perspective or from a travel time perspective what the impact will be.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said it is anticipated that with the one-hospital model primary and urgent care options would be better developed throughout Muskoka and East Parry Sound. \u201cSo that people for instance wouldn\u2019t even have to come to the emergency department, they\u2019d be able to get care more locally where they live. And granted that\u2019s not for the urgent, life-threatening type of things,\u201d said Bubela, adding the emergency department volumes are high and yet many of the cases could be treated elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Regardless, Bubela said staff and the Board are committed to working with municipal leaders and understanding comments made during the mayors\u2019 presentation at the Algonquin Theatre, such as the millions of dollars that could be saved under a two-hospital model. \u201cWe want to understand that better.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also said discussions around what is meant by core services at each location needs to take place. She said the taskforce set up by the North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), which reports to the Ministry of Health, is scheduled to meet next week where some of the questions prompted by the mayors\u2019 proposal are expected to be hashed out.<\/p>\n
We have come full circle<\/h6>\n
Mathies noted the Gordian knot has come full circle. It started with rationalizing services in Burk\u2019s Falls then closing down the facility there altogether, to closing beds at both hospitals and laying off dozens of people.<\/p>\n