Every week after Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies introduced the Minden emergency division would completely shut on June 1, members of the Minden group had been at Queen’s Park in Toronto to ship a petition to the Ontario authorities demanding a moratorium of the choice, whereas officers from Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies appeared earlier than each the Township of Minden Hills and Haliburton County councils to elucidate the rationale behind the choice.
On Thursday (April 27), Minden residents Patrick Porzuczek, Laura Porzuczek, and Richard Bradley led a gaggle that travelled to Queen’s Park with a petition — signed by 3,359 Minden-area residents — asking the Ministry of Well being and Lengthy Time period Care to put a moratorium on the Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies resolution “for no less than one 12 months to permit for consultations with all affected stakeholders to happen.”
NDP well being critic France Gélinas (MPP Nickle Belt) introduced the petition earlier than the Legislature on Thursday afternoon and requested Ontario’s minister of well being and long-term care Sylvia Jones throughout query interval whether or not she would help the moratorium request.
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“I do know that the member reverse is aware of very properly that hospitals are chargeable for their day-to-day operations and make these choices impartial of the ministry of well being and authorities,” Jones replied. “We now have been assured that the Haliburton Highlands Well being Science [sic] board and management have made this resolution fastidiously, thoughtfully, understanding and appreciating the wants of their group and their employees, and I’ll allow them to do this work.”
A lot of the criticism from the Minden group in regards to the resolution to shut the emergency division revolves round a scarcity of communication and session with the group in regards to the closure and the timing of the closure in the beginning of summer season.
“Members of Minden’s group are decided to exhaust all potential choices to reverse this hasty and poorly thought of resolution,” reads a media launch issued by the Ontario NDP on Thursday. “There have been a staggering 13,000 visits to the (Minden) emergency division in 2022, with the quantity trending upwards. The city’s inhabitants triples throughout summer season as a consequence of seasonal residents and vacationers. It’s incomprehensible that such a major resolution was made with out consulting any stakeholders. This group is not going to relaxation till their voices are heard.”
VIDEO: Query Interval – April 27, 2023 – Minden emergency division closure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=/b1krgEh-yao
Final Thursday (April 20), Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies introduced the Minden emergency division can be closed efficient Friday, June 1st, with all employees to be transferred to the emergency division in Haliburton, surprising Minden-area politicians and residents.
Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies presently operates two emergency departments which can be open 24/7, one at 4575 Deep Bay Highway in Minden and the opposite at 7199 Gelert Highway in Haliburton, each with on-site heliports. In contrast to the Haliburton location, which has 15 in-patient beds, the Minden location doesn’t provide in-patient acute care companies.
Most Minden sufferers requiring hospitalization are transferred to Haliburton or to hospitals in Lindsay or Bracebridge. With the closure of the Minden emergency division, native residents would want to journey 25 kilometres northeast to Haliburton — a 25-minute drive — for emergency medical companies.
Based on an announcement from Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies president and CEO Carolyn Plummer and board chair David O’Brien, the choice to shut the Minden emergency division was made in response to an ongoing scarcity of nursing and medical employees.
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Each Plummer and O’Brien attended a gathering of the Township of Minden Hills council on Thursday afternoon to provide a presentation in regards to the resolution and to reply questions from Minden Hills mayor Bob Carter on behalf of members of the group.
“Let me state the explanation why this resolution was made, and it was made due to the continuing staffing shortages,” O’Brien stated. “It’s taken a rare quantity of effort over the past 18 months to maintain the crew collectively, to maintain it centered, to maintain it delivering the companies we’d like. Our employees have made unimaginable private {and professional} sacrifices with the intention to make that occur.”
“It bought to the purpose that we are able to’t proceed to do this. We’re going to lose individuals, greater than we already misplaced. We’re going to lose our hospital if we proceed to do that — I’m not speaking about closing Minden emergency, I’m speaking in regards to the broader Haliburton (Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies) hospital.”
“That was the main focus of constructing this resolution,” O’Brien stated. “The employees that we’ve are beneath excessive stress. They got here to us and stated ‘Look, you’ve bought to do one thing as a result of we are able to’t maintain happening like this. The system’s going to fail if we let it go on.’ In order that’s type of the crux of why the choice was made. There are plenty of different issues that go into it, however that’s the actual necessary a part of the choice.”
For her half, Plummer stated she has “spoken about our staffing disaster in each public board assembly for the previous couple of years and I’ve spoken about it with the mayors once we’ve met with them,” including that there have been greater than “20 official shut calls” in 2022 and “many different shut calls that weren’t made official” the place both one or each of the Haliburton and Minden emergency departments must shut briefly.
Plummer stated the choice to consolidate emergency companies on the Haliburton location was made as a result of, in contrast to the Minden location, Haliburton already has in-patient acute care beds.
“We thought of suggestions acquired from the paramedic companies, who highlighted the truth that the Haliburton web site is extra centralized within the county for ambulance journey instances,” Plummer stated. “We additionally checked out the truth that sustaining hospital companies near the Haliburton household medical centre has many advantages, primarily facilitating easy accessibility to major care physicians to see sufferers in each the emergency division and the in-patient unit.”
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Of their presentation, neither Plummer nor O’Brien addressed the criticisms levelled towards Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies for the shortage of communication and group session previous to asserting the choice or for the timing of the closure.
After the presentation, Carter raised the priority a few lack of communication, noting that earlier discussions with Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies had been solely about staffing points and the potential of momentary closures of 1 or each emergency departments.
“At no level was there a dialogue that one in every of these services must shut completely,” Carter stated, including he confirmed this by talking with the opposite three mayors and 4 deputy mayors within the county. “Now in your thoughts that was maybe the inevitability of what you had been speaking about, however there was no clear communication about that … This got here as an entire shock to all of us.”
Carter then requested Plummer and O’Brien a query on behalf of the group about the important thing points that led to the choice to completely shut the Minden emergency division.
Plummer reiterated that the first cause is the shortage of employees sources to keep up two emergency departments and the pressures on current employees.
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“I can inform you that, heading into this summer season, we might be in any other case dealing with a number of short-term, short-notice, sudden closures of 1 if not each of our emergency departments at varied unpredictable instances, and it might be inconceivable to speak correctly to all of the stakeholders and group members about these closures in enough time for them to know the place to go within the occasion of an emergency,” Plummer stated.
“We wished to be sure that we may keep emergency companies on this county, and so we made the choice to consolidate them at a single web site the place we are able to convey our employees collectively to offer a more practical staffing protection mannequin to satisfy all of the well being care emergency wants of the county as an entire.”
Carter then requested why solely six weeks’ discover was given of the closure, particularly given the shortage of prior communication to stakeholders and the upcoming summer season season.
“It actually was an operational resolution that needed to be made,” Plummer replied. “We had grave considerations as I stated in regards to the a number of, momentary, unpredictable closures that may have occurred in any other case, and the numerous threat that may place on the group in unpredictable methods as we might not be capable to correctly communication sufficiently forward of these closures — a few of these closures may occur with solely two hours’ discover.”
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“That’s how shut we’ve come, and that was going to be a actuality for this summer season,” Plummer added. “We had been in a position to make it by means of final summer season, however simply barely, and it was not going to be possible for us to do this this summer season.”
“This was a really, very troublesome resolution, and we all know it’s been significantly troublesome for the Minden group, nevertheless it was one we needed to make with the intention to be sure that we nonetheless have (emergency) well being companies throughout the county as an entire and into the summer season.”
In response to a different query from Carter, Plummer and O’Brien stated the choice was made by the Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies board, supported by the hospital’s govt management crew. The choice was communicated to the Ontario Ministry of Well being and Lengthy-Time period Care, which was already conscious of the staffing points dealing with Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies.
After noting the “outpouring of concern from our group,” Carter requested if the June 1st date to shut the Minden emergency division may “be pushed again to some cheap time — November 1st, or later — so we may have an affordable dialogue, together with all of the stakeholders, and we are able to correctly plan the implementation.”
“This is able to get us by means of the busy summer season interval and permit a clear public course of,” Carter added. “The query is, are you keen to agree, contemplate, or decide to pushing again this date?”
Plummer didn’t instantly reply the query, however repeated that the choice was an operational one, to keep away from “a number of momentary however short-notice closures (of) one or seemingly each emergency departments, all summer season lengthy,” and that it might be extraordinarily troublesome to correctly notify the group of the closures, leading to “a lot confusion, and that may have been unsafe for the group as an entire.”
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Carter requested what would occur, with the Minden emergency division closed, if the Haliburton emergency division has to briefly shut.
“This offers us the chance to shift all of our sources into one location, to assist cut back the chance of that type of closure taking place,” Plummer replied. “The danger is all the time there, however this reduces that threat.”
Carter identified the choice to shut the Minden emergency division in six weeks would have an unplanned influence on different emergency companies in Minden, together with paramedics and volunteer firefighters, who can be responding to medical calls, with an influence on value — particularly on the busiest time of 12 months throughout the summer season.
Deputy mayor Lisa Schell requested Plummer to verify which location virtually closed 20 instances as a consequence of staffing points, including “consider I do know the reply. I might similar to to listen to your trustworthy reply to all people on this group, as a result of most of us know what it’s.”
“These had been all associated to doctor shortages at our Haliburton web site,” Plummer replied. “Our Minden web site can be now dealing with doctor shortages. Each websites are dealing with doctor shortages. What isn’t included in that 20-plus official notifications is the numerous instances that we’ve had nursing sick calls … it may very well be Haliburton, it may very well be Minden, it may very well be each. Relying on the scenario, each emergency departments may very well be closed. We now have confronted that close to risk many, many instances within the final 18 months — excess of 20. It occurs most likely weekly, possibly extra typically than that, nevertheless it occurs recurrently with our nursing sick calls and shortages of nursing employees.”
Schell then requested Plummer to call the stakeholders that Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies consulted with in regards to the resolution to shut the Minden emergency division.
Plummer replied that the operational resolution was made by the board, supported by the manager management crew, “however knowledgeable by conversations with employees.” She added that the board has accomplished “reach-outs with regard to our strategic plan” that concerned nameless surveys, interviews, and focus teams. (On Friday, in an interview on CBC Radio’s Ontario Morning, when host Ramraajh Sharvendiran requested if Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies consulted a few everlasting closure, Plummer stated “We didn’t ask about that particular query.”)
In a while Thursday afternoon, Plummer and O’Brien attended a particular assembly of Haliburton County council to elucidate the rationale for the choice to shut the Minden emergency division. Whereas that assembly was closed to the general public, council issued an announcement the next day.
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“Council stays extraordinarily involved and dissatisfied of their resolution and the timing related to the closure,” the assertion reads. “We additionally proceed to be disillusioned within the absence of communication between county council, the group and (Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies) over the past variety of months whereas this step was being thought of.”
“We’ll proceed to advocate on behalf of our residents to make sure that (Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies) responds to questions on reorganization and ongoing service supply within the county, together with figuring out and attracting companies to work out of the Minden web site. To that finish council might be requesting that (Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies) current their implementation plan to mix emergency companies at a particular assembly in Could.”
Whereas Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott has not issued an official assertion in regards to the resolution to shut the Minden emergency division, Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MP Jamie Schmale addressed the problem in Parliament on Thursday night throughout a debate on the second studying of Invoice C-47, the Finances Implementation Act.
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“Let me be clear, the choice made by the Haliburton Highlands Well being Companies Board of Administrators is one thing I oppose,” Schmale wrote on Fb. “We now have been instructed that this resolution, which I’ve little question was very troublesome to make, was not based mostly on monetary issues however was solely as a consequence of insufficient staffing ranges.”
“As somebody who grew up in Bobcaygeon and has used the Minden ER greater than as soon as, I be part of with residents and echo concern for his or her group hospital. Whereas the choice was a neighborhood one, I acknowledge that the federal authorities has a job to play in facilitating the immigration of certified nurses and medical doctors to handle labour shortages not simply in Minden however all through the nation.”
A Fb group referred to as Save Minden Ontario Emergency Room now has over 3,900 members. A on-line petition referred to as Assist Save the Minden Hills Emergency Division has far acquired greater than 5,800 signatures.
Minden resident and former Minden firefighter Patrick Porzuczek, who was at Queen’s Park on Thursday and likewise established the Fb group and on-line petition, has additionally created a GoFundMe marketing campaign that has raised over $4,600 to assist fund group efforts to cease the closure.
