During visits to local councils, officials from the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network are trumpeting improved waiting times as one of their recent accomplishments.
Chief Executive Officer Sandra Hanmer said the network had the longest waiting times in the province in 2008 for such things as hip and knee surgeries, cataracts, and MRI and CT scans.
Last year the average wait was 265 days, while in 2009 that has been improved to 61 days. Hanmer said the network will continue to work to lower wait times.
The local network serves a population of over 750,000 – including Wellington County, Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Cambridge and other areas – with a 90% rural geographic base. It looks after three public health units, 10 hospital sites, nine family health teams, 31 community support services, 22 mental health and addiction services and 35 long-term care homes.
The network’s 2009-10 budget is $858-million, up 13% over its previous budget of $760-million.
Other accomplishments highlighted by Hanmer and chair Kathy Durst during council updates included:
– increased funding for youth addiction treatment programs ($2.5-million between Portage in Elora and Ray of Hope in Kitchener);
– establishment of a network-wide vascular services program, led by Guelph General Hospital;
– providing additional personal service workers; and
– implementation of rural mental health beds.
Hanmer and Durst also highlighted the network’s $37-million to the aging at home strategy, aimed at helping seniors remain independent in their own homes for as long as possible.
However, Mapleton council and staff expressed concern about the administrative requirements for the township, which is the leader for the Close to Home program in northern Wellington County.
Mapleton Clerk Patty Sinnamon has said staff spends a huge amount of time on filling out required paperwork and reports, which could be better spent on implementing new programs.
“We’re trying to fix that,” Hanmer replied, adding she realized the township has neither the time nor the staff to deal with the administrative workload.
Durst said the Close to Home program was really the network’s first collaboration with a municipal government, and network officials hope it’s a relationship that can be modeled throughout the coverage area and even the province.
