Councils struggle with health care issues

Ford government's failures land on local municipalities to fix and fund

Grand opening of the Asphodel Norwood Medical Centre.

Doug Ford caused some awkward moments at the Trent Hills council meeting on Thursday.

No, the Premier wasn’t there and in fact his name was never mentioned, but his government’s health care policy failures set the stage for a difficult scene and loomed over the discussion.

Mayor Patrick Wilford and Allan Hewitt, Chief Administrative Officer, from the Township of Asphodel-Norwood, came looking for money to support the new Norwood Medical Centre that opened last month. Their municipality spent about $600,000 to build the new facility and expects to spend about $450,000 a year to keep it running, they told the Trent Hills councillors.

Health care is clearly a provincial responsibility, although a lot of the money flows from Ottawa. However, the crisis in primary care coverage and shortage of family doctors has forced towns and cities across the province to act on their own.

“The province is not stepping up to the plate,” Wilford said. “It’s not a municipal responsibility, but the system is broken and we need your help.”

Hewitt said about 300 residents of Trent Hills were patients of a Norwood doctor who retired and another 300 are on the waiting list for the new medical centre, which has two doctors and a nurse practitioner and is looking for more physicians.

He said each patient will cost the centre about $150 per year in administration and “that’s what we’re looking for.”

After their presentation they asked if there were any questions, but they only received comments from Deputy Mayor Mike Metcalfe.

“This should not be a municipal responsibility, it should be dealt with at the provincial level, yet this is where we’re at,” he said. “Every municipality is trying to find doctors.”

Metcalfe noted that there are no boundaries in local health care, pointing out that many residents of Trent Hills have retained their doctors in Toronto or elsewhere, because it is so difficult to find care.

In fact, he said, 572 patients currently on the roster of the Trent Hills Family Health Team are residents of Asphodel-Norwood.

He pointed out that the Trent Hills team currently has six doctors and six nurse practitioners and hopes to add more.

“What you’re doing is incredible,” Councillor Rick English told the pair from Asphodel-Norwood, noting it is a difficult situation for all municipalities.

“We’ll be in touch,” Mayor Bob Crate said as the councillors voted to receive the report, which is bureaucratese for putting it on the shelf.