WHERE’S DELOITTE HOSPITAL REPORT FROM 2018-19 ON FATE OF SMMH?

Lois Cooper | MuskokaTODAY.com OPINION

The Ontario Health Coalition held a public hearing in Bracebridge on Tuesday at the Bracebridge Legion, in its work to develop recommendations for the future of our local hospitals, including in small, rural and northern communities.

Several residents made presentations.

Presenters referred to the promise made during the 2018 provincial election campaign by Premier Doug Ford that residents of Muskoka need not worry about the future of their hospitals as he promised two fully-functioning hospitals — one in Huntsville and one in Bracebridge, each funded by the province with $500 million each.

Clearly this is not a local issue alone as stated by the current minister of health.

Muskoka Algonquin Health Care (MAHC) hired Deloitte in 2018-19 to form a plan for the one hospital with two sites  as promised by Ford. This was done with public and staff participation. The Deloitte plan came up with two sites supported by evidence.

The question now is where is the Deloitte plan?

Why are the documents from Deloitte not public?

Did the Deloitte plan recommend extensions to the present South Memorial Hospital site where MAHC purchased acreage in the 1980-’90s?

Did MAHC purchase the two rows of wartime housing adjacent to the present hospital?

Does MHAC still own those properties?

Who has the power to make this information public?

A lot of questions remain after the Ontario Health Coalition spent Tuesday morning in Bracebridge gathering information from the public on the state of province’s health care.

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