MAHC’S RESPONSE OF 36 BEDS ‘STILL FALLS SHORT,’ SAYS ONE NEW DAD DOCTOR OPPOSED
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
MUSKOKA — While fellow physicians were in Utterson last month meeting with MAHC board members, Dr. Luke Wu was in Ottawa for the baptism of his daughter who was born at South Muskoka Memorial Hospital last year.
He wanted to be at the important meeting, but family came first Easter weekend for his first born and her mom.
An internist, Wu knows of which he speaks, having both that birth experience and providing internal medicine consultation services to the emergency department that includes seeing some of their sickest patients and admitting them to the ICU and managing their care throughout their ICU stay.
He was also trained at MAHC, coming from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.
And as the son of doctor, and who grew up in Minden, he is acutely aware the challenges of rural and small town medicine.
When asked for the physicians’ response to that meeting — in which MAHC formally doubled its bed count this week to 36 beds from 18 at SMMH — Wu said to him the overture “still falls short.”
Speaking personally — the opposition doctors group has yet to meet formally to examine the offer — Wu admitted Friday the gap is at least narrowing in the right direction.
And a 100 per cent jump is promising, he said, even if it “kind of makes you wonder how it all of a sudden increased.”
However, he added it’s not a sufficient given there are more than as many beds there now.
He pointed to MAHC’s own daily statistics “snapshot” report from this week, which showed as of Wednesday, alone, in Bracebridge there were 69 patients in need of the 63 beds.
At Huntsville District Memorial Hospital it was worse; with 58 vying for 48 beds.
Both sites, he said, exceeding occupancy rates in the spring when they’re not yet close to being in the peak summer season.
Wu said that shows south Muskoka requires at least 50-55 beds today — let alone a decade away.
MAHC will receive more beds of up to 146 when it opens two new hospitals in eight years.
But the question of dispersal remains at the heart of the delicate, difficult and divissive issue.
The new dad does admit that a reversal also on labour and delivery services is a somewhat promising change.
It, too, is a 100 per cent improvement — having in the past weeks gone from zero birthing beds in Bracebridge back to one this week
Currently SMMH and HDMH each split MAHC’s four birthing suites dedicated to moms and their newborns.
While not a family physician himself, Wu said he’s unsure whether the proposed division would be adequate based on double the births in Huntsville.
But he’d rather defer to another doctor in that department for comment.
He said his family’s birth 13 months ago at SMMH was happily problem-free — with another woman also in the maternity ward.
Nonetheless he made sure to note that with fewer beds the risk of having to transfer mothers, babies and any other patients 32 kms. (20 miles) north makes it always “challenging.”
Wu also commented on MAHC’s proposal to cut ICU beds by one — to four from five.
Ideally there should be five or six, he said.
In 2032 Huntsville would have 10 and south Muskoka four.
Wu says he can’t find any research to justify the need for 10 beds to qualify for Level 3 ICU nursing care.
He thinks a helpful option for all beds is to reconsider the 21 beds being allotted for future ER room care at each site, by making them part of the “Clinical Decision Making Unit.” They could allocate extra spaces on a case by case basis in emergencies.
More meetings a being planned by all parties with both sides agreeing to another face to face soon — one Wu expects to attend this time.
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