TOWNS, DISTRICT GOVERNMENTS URGED TO WITHDRAW FUNDING PLEDGES FOR MAHC HOSPITALS PENDING PROVINCIAL REVIEW OF ‘CARE CLOSE TO HOME’ MODEL
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
MUSKOKA — District and municipal governments are being asked to withdraw millions of dollars they’ve committed to MAHC’s “unequal” hospitals plan, until the Ministry of Health examines a counter proposal submitted by south Muskoka doctors.
In its first public statement and “community report,” members of the ‘Save South Muskoka Hospital’ (SSMH) group say Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s ‘Made in Muskoka Model would “is a slap in the face of the families who worked so hard to have a hospital built in South Muskoka.”
Plans for 139 beds in Huntsville and 14 at Bracebridge would make South Muskoka Memorial Hospital but an “an emergency transfer station” between “regional centres” in Huntsville and Orillia.
SSMH calls on all Muskoka residents to write their town and district councillors urging them to rescind almost $100 million in pledges for hospitals in Bracebridge and Huntsville.
The ‘Local Share’ of MAHC’s proposed plan is $225 million. The hospital foundations have committed to the rest.
“As a property owner in Muskoka, we ask that Muskoka District council and the town councils in Muskoka withdraw any funding support or commitment for any new hospital buildings until the ‘Care Close to Home’ model endorsed by our (south Muskoka) doctors is forwarded to the Ministry of Health.
“We believe Care Close to Home is the best plan for all of Muskoka. We do not accept the current plan suggested by MAHC is an advancement in community care, since there will be no obstetrics unit in South Muskoka. And all other care areas will be diminished.”
They add: “We believe the best way forward is to return to having two separate hospitals in south Muskoka and Huntsville, each with their own board of directors and continuing with each having their own foundations (which they have now).”
In email Sunday — to thousands who last month signed a petition calling for the MAHC board to resign — Cindy Waters said she and her husband, former MPP Dan Waters, “Want to make sure that Huntsville’s hospital remains intact and strong.
“The people have been served well over the years up to 2004 with the hospitals as separate hospitals. Since amalgamation both hospitals have had the need to fight for what they currently have in their communities.”
Says Waters: “We are doing our best to keep this action alive. There is too much to lose, including lives.”
She says in yesterday’s email that bulk purchasing power was among the reasons Muskoka hospitals amalgamated in 2004 and that MAHC now shares some services with Orillia’s Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital where MAHC’s president and CEO Cheryl Harrison was previously president and CEO.
Her letter-writing solicitation says “of course South Muskoka residents are enraged and we have begun a campaign to see them return again to two fully-functioning hospitals.
“Our doctors have suggested a “Care Close to Home” model.
“The distance for many South Muskoka residents can add more than an hour to arrive at their hospital with what they have suggested. Add the weather and the traffic problems that can happen in Muskoka and it is easy to see why we need to continue this fight. Muskoka needs two fully-functioning hospitals for all residents seasonal and permanent.
“We are asking you to join us by having you copy and paste the attached into an email to the District of Muskoka. Please email me once you have completed it successfully so I can continue to keep you informed as best I can. It helps us to keep a record of numbers as well.”
Please copy the following:
“To all District Councillors and the District Chair for Muskoka: As a property owner in Muskoka, we ask that Muskoka District council and the town councils in Muskoka withdraw any funding support or commitment for any new hospital buildings until the “Care Close to Home” model endorsed by our doctors is forwarded to the Ministry of Health for Muskoka.
“We believe “Care Close to Home” is the best plan for all of Muskoka. We do not accept the current plan suggested by MAHC is an advancement in community care, since there will be no obstetrics unit in South Muskoka. And all other care areas will be diminished.
“We believe the distance between the two sites requires our hospitals to remain as fully functioning hospitals with obstetrics units, diagnostic imaging, day and general surgeries, emergency services, and continued NOSM (Northern Ontario School of Medicine) attendance and growth at both sites.
“Individual and community health are best served with Care Close to Home. Funding a project for the future good health and care of citizens and communities needs to remain the focus. Care Close to Home is the model we support.”
To send your email to councillors they suggest you click on this link and it will take you to the district email portal.
In “Your Message” click inside the box and paste then click in the box that shows “I’m not a robot” and then choose “send email”.
Check your email. You may need to respond to the District email to you to allow your email to be accepted.
SAVE SOUTH MUSKOKA HOSPITAL:
The committee plans a weekly report and update to match the one MAHC began sending out Friday.
SSMH’s website is saveourmuskokahospitals.com It offers more background and information. They also have a Facebook page you can join at Save South Muskoka Hospital
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