Don't get distracted by the shiny new building

Jan 23, 2008

The tsunami of information coming out this week about the future of healthcare in Almaguin can get a bit confusing.

So here’s some key points we’d like to stress.

After-hours urgent care is once again under threat as Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC), which administers the Burk’s Falls and District Health Centre, continues its battle with the budget bulge of $2 million.

That’s a separate story.

Work is beginning to get the Family Health Team (FHT), approved for Burk’s Falls doctors Andrew Albert, David Apramian and perhaps others, up and running in a new building.

That is a separate story.

A committee is being struck to examine what the future of the BFDHC and the services it provides should look like once the FHT is operational.

That is a separate story.

The communities of South River and Sundridge are thinking that an FHT could be a good fit for them and the medical centres they operate.

That is a separate story.

Well, that’s not all exactly true.

All of these developments have a lot of questions remaining to be answered and a lot of due diligence to be done. And the outcome of one could affect the other.

Obviously, in our minds the most pressing of all of these issues is the end of the after-hours urgent care clinic (UCC).

The clinic, invaluably, makes health care available to residents and visitors of Almaguin on evenings and weekends when most doctors’ practices are dark and locked.

Not having the UCC available at those times means a trip out of the area to a seat in an emergency department. When a child gets off the bus with a fever, and for a host of other maladies, get ready for a long drive and a long wait if the after-hours UCC closes.

It also means that people without a family physician, including cottagers and other visitors, will have to see a doctor during the already busy daytime UCC.

The deadline on this service cut is only two months away and in bureaucratic and political years (think dog years) that’s about two days.

A real concentrated effort is needed now to keep this clinic operating. This issue isn’t about whether supporting this is going to hurt future funding of healthcare in Sundridge, South River or Ahmic Harbour. It’s about keeping access open to doctors that already exists.

The communities served by the UCC should use every avenue available to them in the battle to keep this clinic, along with other services already provided by MAHC in Burk’s Falls.

The committee that will be reporting on the future of services from the site is looking at all aspects of care and not just the FHT.

Communities like Sundridge and South River could be very disappointed in the committee’s recommendations if they choose not to take part in the exercise. Saying simply, “Good luck with that,” is short-sighted, possibly irresponsible and shows an obvious lack of understanding about what’s at stake.

It is also walking away from an opportunity to have a say on a very important part of our local health system.

Those of us served by the BFDHC cannot get distracted by the fact the FHT may only be for patients of the doctors’ practices. The FHT is a wonderful addition to local healthcare and hopefully the first of many. But this addition doesn’t mean that vigilance can be lost in keeping the existing services so many have fought long and hard to get and keep.

Let’s not allow that work to go to waste now.