NORTH WELLINGTON – In recent weeks, Kathy Durst, Board chairman and Sandra Hanmer, Chief Executive Officer of the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network met with Wellington North and Minto councils with an update of WWLHIN facts, accomplishments, and recruitment.
Wellington North
Hanmer said the the network has an annual budget of $858-million and serves a population of over 750,000 with a 90% rural base. The network area has nine Family Health Teams and three Public Health Units.
WWLHIN accomplishments include:
– spending on programs and services that will enable seniors to remain safely in their homes;
– increased funding for youth addictions treatment programs;
– an increase of 27 transitions beds in 2009;
– implementation of six palliative support care beds at St. Joseph’s Health Care (Guelph) and Hospice Wellington is building its new facility;
– implementation of long-term care beds;
– implementation of rural mental health beds;
– reduced waiting times for hip and knee surgeries, cataracts, MRIs and CT scans
– establishments of a network wide vascular services program;
– implementation of additional resources;
– providing additional personal service workers;
– opening of 30 supportive housing units;
– commitment to community engagement in network activities;
– investing in eHealth initiatives; and
– enhanced governance leadership
The network currently has two vacancies on the board of directors effective August 2009 and they are actively recruiting for new board members. Recruitment for additional new members will continue.
The network is working on a sustainable future with The Clinical Optimization Project. Staff and doctors from the eight hospital corporations, the Access Centre and the network are working to examine existing in-patient and out-patient acute (clinical) care services within the area. They are focusing on aligning the provision of care with current and future population needs, improving patient access, improving the outcomes of care and fostering the development of academic activities.
One component of the project focused on rural health care with five public meetings to obtain information from residents.
Minto
In the town, the pair spent considerable time explaining their activities since they were last at council.
Hanmer noted many councillors were at the public meeting in Harriston which examined rural health care.
Over the course of the past year, Hanmer said a number of new service providers have come on board while other groups of providers chose to merge.
The result is that the local network is working with the same numbers – “even though we have new people. Our nine Family Health Teams are up and running very well.”
She said the last time they were at council, the East Wellington Health Team was just getting started.
Hanmer said work has included a $37-million project over three years that will result in an additional $22-million in base health service funding focussed on seniors – allow them to stay in their own homes longer.
Locally, in each emergency department, there are geriatric emergency management nurses, who are skilled in looking after seniors issues and their connections to the communities. She stated if a senior from a nursing home or in the community comes to the emergency department, it does not mean they will be automatically admitted.
“Instead, they may be very quickly connected with the community resources they need.”
Hanmer said they have already received feedback on the nurses from health service providers and family members.
“They are making a difference already.”
She said palliative care was another area where focus was needed – and work has been done to increase the number of palliative care teams to help support those living at home.
She then commented on mental health and addictions programs, particularly for youth, were a challenge and an area to focus upon.
Last year, $2.5-million was allocated to residential treatment programs. One of those programs, Portage, is located near Elora. It’s on an old farm property. It provides school, services and community languages for youth in the area. Without such a program, individuals would have had to go to Thunder Bay for similar services. That allows a continuation of services closer to home.
In terms of rural mental health issues and challenges, Hanmer said, there has been a link between North Wellington Healthcare and Homewood Health Care to provide beds for those requiring mental health care.
“It is improving access to mental health care for residents in this area.”
She said work continues to address waiting times for various health services.
“We are very fortunate in our rural hospitals the wait times are not very long at all. However, we’re starting to see … in Groves Memorial Community Hospital [in Fergus] in particular … wait times are starting to go up because people are starting to go from the urban areas to Groves.”
Hanmer said the entire system must be considered to prevent a bottleneck. She added alternatives to the emergency department need to be considered. One of those aspects is if treatment needs to be through primary care.
Supportive housing is another area being looked at through the network.
While three units are being developed in Waterloo Region, she noted the board recently approved Quick Start, which will work in neighbourhoods seniors’ area to provide supportive housing for them.
She stressed the board has made it very clear that there needs to be a balance between urban and rural neighbourhoods.
They will approach rural communities to determine where those rural neighbourhoods exist.
Hanmer said in the past year a lot more funding has gone into the area of improving access to health care. Reducing wait times, is, in fact, improving access to health care.
Durst said “Clearly governing in the [network] environment for health service providers is different than governing when all the decisions for them, for the most part, were being done from head office in Toronto.”
She said Ontario is the only province with regional boards to retain the local health board model. Those boards represent the people who pay for those services at the community level.
“Life has changed dramatically in health services since 2005. A lot of that change has come at the government level,” she said.
Durst said municipal representatives have been very eager to take part in the process.
“I’d like to say that for the record, our board has never breathed about closing anyone’s hospital – ever. I don’t know how many times we can say that.”
Durst said the intent is to build a health care system that is sustainable.
She said she spoke with Minto Mayor David Anderson in 2005 about getting a dialysis unit at the Palmerston hospital.
That unit is now in operation in Palmerston.
“While we are not in charge of capital projects, the [network] does have an advisory role.”
She said if a CT scanner is determined to be needed in the northern hospitals, that is something the network would support.
Anderson said quite a few people in the area are interested in health issues and “are watching the process quite intently. A huge concern of any municipality is its hospital.”
He pointed to the public meeting turnout in Harriston, which packed the community hall, and commented on rumors around the area.
“I know how much Centre Wellington needs a new hospital. The municipality has been raising money to put towards it,” Anderson said.
He also noted there is quite a commitment by the Ministry of Health to fund a major part of that.
However, he is being asked if that funding will take away from other area health services.
Hanmer said all projects like that go through a capital planning process that is ultimately approved through Infrastructure Ontario.
She said in health, the ministry must identify the programs and services offered in the facilities and the requirements of the community – whether it is building something new or simply a renovation.
“They are not taking away from other community resources,” she said.
Hanmer said. “It’s not going to be a replacement of what Groves Memorial Community Hospital already has.”
She said it is an opportunity to look into the future and determine the services that will be needed by the community.
Deputy-mayor Judy Dirksen cited recent advertising campaigns looking to send clients from the hospitals to the right health care service provider.
Dirksen said that while the concept might be fine for the cities, she wondered how something like that would work in small town Ontario.
“In our two hospitals in North Wellington, it is important to have emergency rooms, patient beds, and surgery services.”
She asked if there was a way the model for rural Ontario could be that the first point of entry is still the hospital, but maybe they need to be streamed (to other services) once they get there.
“I just don’t see us building a whole bunch of new buildings to accommodate this thought process in the new way of health care.” She said the area is spread thin on doctors as it is.
Dirksen asked if there were any thoughts on a process more suited to rural Ontario.
Hanmer said one of those answers is enhancing the role of nurse practitioners and the dietician who is already part of the family health team.
She said the plan is not to increase the number of buildings, but to examine the resources currently available and to make the best use of them.
