Hospital review looks to system changes
Posted Feb 19, 2010 By John Nelson
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Tweet ThisEMC News - Officials with the Champlain Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) are gearing up for a flood of information as a citizens panel and other advisory groups prepare to make their recommendations on the future of local health care.
Lisa Sullivan, senior planning consultant for the LHIN told a Winchester District Memorial Hospital (WMDH) Community Ambassadors Breakfast that big changes were in the works.
She said the current system is, "very service-provider oriented," meaning that patients are treated based on what services are available rather on what they actually require.
"It's sort of flipping that on its head a bit," Ms. Sullivan, a Manotick resident, said. "It's going to shift to client-centered service."
She said four working groups - surgical, medical, emergency and psychiatric/mental health -were preparing to deliver their reports to the steering committee while a 24-member Citizens Advisory Council has been selected. The council is made up of residents from throughout the Eastern Counties, and takes into account cultural diversities and other factors.
"I think the Citizens Advisory Council will be one of the most exciting parts of this," Ms. Sullivan told an audience of hospital officials, community group representatives and politicians including North Dundas Mayor Alvin Runnalls, Stormont-Glengarry-South Glengarry Liberal MPP Jim Brownell and Stormont-Glengarry-South Glengarry Conservative MP Guy Lauzon. "It's a new way of trying to get input. It's not just hospitals making decisions."
She explained that the recommendations of the citizen panel would be given consideration, adding that public input was mandated by provincial legislation.
"We haven't come up with any options yet," Ms. Sullivan said. "No decisions have been made. We are still really in the thick of trying to plan and (decide) how we can better distribute services."
The review of services in the Eastern Counties involves five hospitals including WDMH, Hawkesbury and District General, Glengarry Memorial in Alexandria, St. Joseph's Continuing Care in Cornwall and Cornwall Community Hospital.
Ms. Sullivan said reviews would be undertaken throughout the Champlain LHIN, which extends as far west as Deep River, but it made sense to begin in the east.
"There was already some interest in your communities," she told the group, explaining that the five health facilities in question had been studying shared services for some time.
She said the review would take into account not only facts and figures but local realities as well.
"We use people's experience and the data," she said. "We were able to look at the data and verify what was really happening.
Ms. Sullivan added that rural people deal with issues, such as transportation, that can prevent access to medical care.
"We found consistently inconsistent access to services," she said. "We can do a better job of making those services more accessible."
The review is focusing on the four services in an effort better deliver services now and over the next 20 years. The Eastern Counties population is expected to double in that time.
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