FRIGHT NIGHT II: MAHC TO HEAR FROM MOST AFFECTED PATIENTS, DOCTORS, RESIDENTS OF SOUTH MUSKOKA TONIGHT
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
MUSKOKA — The ‘Heart of Muskoka’ — and surrounding communities — are a suffering a heart attack.
Blood pressures in south Muskoka are soaring over a proposal the see as a flip of the bird to the long-time seat of district and government services.
But is life changing and growing as Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare claims in its proposal to turn the medical world upside down by shifting inpatient services north and away from south Muskoka leaving the south with almost all Muskoka’s day surgeries?
After MAHC’s first few public meetings many residents, business owners, seniors and those on fixed incomes remain more frightened than ever.
You thought COVID had people afraid; wait till tonight to learn more at a much anticipated 7 p.m. meeting at the Sportsplex there.
Call it fright night II — following testy testimonials in Gravenhurst last week.
Or how about a heart to heart talk from the Heart with MAHC’s board.
People used to take hospitals and healthcare for granted, because after all we are Canadian — home of Tommy Douglas and free medicine.
Nobody thought they’d be the one to get COVID, just like their grandparents never heard of or felt they’d ever contract cancer. However …. Ask King Charles.
But this is striking closer to home — even for practising MDs new and old to south Muskoka.
Physician heal thyself. If only.
Who hasn’t second-guessed primary care providers and considered asking them for a second opinion?
Well, it seems most patients and doctors are on the same page on writing this script
MAHC “chats” aside today, coffee klatches at Oliver’s and Hortons today revealed the extent of some of those concerns.
Language not suitable for even MuskokaTODAY.com punctuated the percolated premises.
Jack Hutton and Linda Jackson, of Bala, said it’s bad enough she had to wait two hours this afternoon to get blood work.
But if they had to visit each other in hospital it would take almost an hour to drive east then take the Hwy. 11 motorway north.
They’re better off relative to seasonal residents on dirt roads in Severn Bridge, Barkway, Vankoughnet, Windermere and Georgian Bay.
Good luck if you’re in an ambulance.
Larry Butterfield is worried about finding a GP in Gravenhurst. His doctor retired last spring and the physician who replaced him has since moved on leaving the ex-cop without coverage again.
“I only need some once or twice a year,” the mid-fifties fit buff said.
In Huntsville it’s a non-issue for many.
“I don’t know, seems OK to me,” said one resident this week living out Hwy. 60 west — indicative of Thursday last’s chat in Huntsville.
The game of numbers that startled everyone is a stark reminder of Ontario and Muskoka’s deep divide over health care, politics and supporters of a provincial government that won’t ante up $500 million more over the next 50 years life of the hospitals.
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said last night during a whistle stop in Bracebridge — to ‘Legalize’ housing for all — that “Yes, definitely, the government can afford more money for health care.”
His party would support more health care spending to fund all hospitals, he told me.
He said Ontario spends the least amount of money per capita of any Canadian province on health care.
Locally more beds in Huntsville means more support staff at HDMH including doctors, nurses, clinicians and custodial support team members.
All of those workers earn their well-deserved salaries by being paid far better than the average Muskokan worker.
At south Muskoka’s hospital a fewer number of staff would be pulling in those same kind of top wages that boost the Bracebridge and surrounding communities’ economies.
That’s just part of what’s at stake tonight as concerned crowds are expected to take their message to MAHC’s board.
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