Hospitals recommendation coming down Aug. 8

HUNSTVILLE — The hospitals group studying its own future will make it recommendation on ultimately one or two sites Aug. 8.

On Aug. 8 the hospitals task force will recommend its hospital choice for post 2030.

In the latest release Wednesday night from the Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s Capital Plan Development Task Force, they gave an update on their latest deliberations on July 16 and 30.

They said the task force received the collated results of the 23 individual evaluations by the eligible members and “engaged in robust discussion” about the final analysis of the three models against the 12 evaluation criteria supported by 500 pages of data.

The task force acknowledged the evaluation analysis would not be a purely numbers-driven exercise and agreed to approach the evaluation with both quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Members shared their observations from completing the evaluation and noted that no one criterion could stand alone because the criteria were so interconnected. They discussed challenges that rose to the surface, like maintaining volumes that achieve critical mass while also ensuring reasonable access, and how some study findings were ultimate “game changers.”

The task force identified that its study of a preferred service delivery model has been based on the best information available today. For example, members acknowledged that affordability of a model (both capital and operating) are important considerations, but are not driving the recommendation.

The release says the task force agreed some assumptions are necessary to make when contemplating how the future health care landscape could be different — from hospital funding formulas to better integration of care locally — and the importance of revisiting and refreshing information at every stage of the Ministry of Health’s capital planning process.

Task force members, it was stated, acknowledged there are advantages and disadvantages to each model, and reinforced the need to ensure the preferred model is flexible enough to sustain necessary changes in acute care, yet protects viability of core acute care services. The task force will present its service delivery model recommendation to the board on Aug. 8.

The task force determined that any potential shortcomings of the model would need to be addressed in their subsequent Part B work when deliberations turn to model design and how best to configure or structure it in order to achieve the best model for the future.

The next task force meeting is Sept. 4.

ANNOUNCEMENT, BACKGROUND & DETAILS:

The three models the task force has been reviewing are:

• Two Acute Sites

• Inpatient Site/Outpatient Site

• One Site

“This recommendation is the long-awaited culmination of countless hours of task force work over the past 12 months to arrive at a consensus on a preferred service delivery model,” says task force chair Cameron Renwick.

“The journey will not end here as our planning work will continue and focus on how you build the model and where, but this recommendation is a significant milestone in the process.”

Representatives of the task force will present the model recommendation at a special meeting of the Board of directors at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 8, in the boardroom at the Huntsville District Memorial Hospital (HDMH) site.

The special meeting will be subject to the same procedures and protocols as all board meetings and is open to the public as observers.

The meeting will be recorded using specialized telemedicine videoconferencing that will enable a webcast of the presentation to the board to be viewed either at home or from each MAHC site.

As space and seating at each hospital site is limited, observers are asked to register in advance. To register as a meeting observer, visit: www.mahc.ca/meetingregister or call 705-789-2311 ext. 2881 and leave a message with your name and phone number and the site you are requesting to attend at (ie: Huntsville or Bracebridge) by noon on Aug. 3.

To watch the presentation live online, visit: www.mahc.ca/webcast on Aug. 8 at 5:30 p.m.

After the board has given its final consideration to the recommendation, an announcement will be made on Aug.10.

For more information about MAHC’s future planning work, visit www.mahc.ca/planning-for-thefuture.