Waiting for Sylvia
Recent health care announcements keep local hopes up
When will the province agree to move ahead with plans for a new Campbellford hospital? That’s been the biggest political and healthcare question in the area for several years.
Many signs suggest the answer may be soon. In recent months, Premier Doug Ford has clearly been angling towards a provincial election next spring, hoping to get a new mandate before a federal election creates any confusion. In late May, he announced Ontario would spend at least $225 million simply to speed up the transition of beer and wine sales to grocery and convenience stores, showing that money is not a barrier when there are political promises to keep.
The latest signs are that the province has decided to stop dragging its feet on decisions about expanding or revamping the healthcare system, at least in some areas. Last week, Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced the province would spend $12 million to allow Durham Region to plan for expansions, including building a new hospital in Whitby.
The Whitby announcement, which was buried in the information package, ended a more than two-year battle by local politicians to get Queen’s Park to move ahead with a hospital that politicians and health care administrators agreed is needed. Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy faced the same foot-dragging that Campbellford politicians have met in recent years but dealt with it by publicly calling on Ford to come up with the money needed for a planning grant. Things got personal and testy as the Premier objected to being “bullied”.
In the end, Roy got what she wanted. Jones promised a Whitby hospital will be built within 10 years, but Roy wasn’t informed about the announcement ahead of time or invited to the news conference. That will teach her.
Also last Thursday, Jones was in Picton for the official start of construction on the new Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital.
“It’s the culmination of hard work, passion, generosity, and good old-fashioned tenacity that has brought us to this exciting milestone,” said Stacey Daub, President and CEO, Quinte Health. “After more than a decade, we are moving forward with the build-phase of the new hospital.”
Note that Daub says it’s taken a decade just to get construction started.
Just a reminder: Our local effort is awaiting a planning grant of about $3 million that would allow detailed work on how the Campus of Care could be built. That grant would not mean official approval of the hospital, which would be several more years down the road.
Interestingly for a politician, Jones often seems publicity shy. She came to town back in May to visit the hospital and see the new CT scanner. But she didn’t tell the media or public she was coming, so she avoided questions and a protest some residents were hoping to stage to encourage her to act, and her staff didn’t provide any comment from her after the visit.
So, if you hear that Jones is coming, or you spot her heading into Dooher’s, it’s likely good news for our hospital plans and an indication that the Progressive Conservatives think they need to invest $3 million to ensure MPP David Piccini gets re-elected.
Annual report highlights busy times
We know the hospital is busy. Almost every week its social media feeds include notifications that the emergency department is swamped and encouraging people to find other sources of medical help.
The hospital’s recent annual report for the year ended March 31 puts some stark numbers on just how busy it is.
The total number of visits to the Emergency Department was up 13.4 per cent to 18,929. Total admissions were up 6.9 per cent to 1,272. The average daily occupancy rate for the beds was up 7 per cent at 102 per cent. Yes, most days all the beds were more than full.
Total number of day-surgery patients jumped 24.6 per cent to 956. And the number of diagnostic imaging patients rose 11 per cent to 25,027.
The annual report says the rising patient load shows the need for a new Campus of Care that will have more capacity. The numbers also suggest this overcrowding will be the norm for at least the next decade since a $15-million proposal to expand the existing emergency department and in-patient unit has been shelved.
The hospital is trying to hire more nurses for the emergency department and the in-patient units, offering a signing bonus of $10,000. CEO Jeff Hohenkerk noted a few months back that the hospital was spending a lot of money on short-term agency nurses to fill vacancies.
Ford is making a lot of announcements but the big one we are all waiting for is news that the Campbellford Hospital is going ahead soon. Nothing like an election coming to make Premiers to make announcements. Great reporting Art.
Publiclly paid officials who won't face the public. Yup that's the DoFo way!