‘Passionate’ crowd speaks loudly and clearly on proposed ‘different model of care’

A crowd of close to 300 people packed the Terry Fox Auditorium at the Gravenhurst Centennial Centre Tuesday night to have their say on how Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) looks to move forward with its hospital redevelopment plan. 

The ‘different model of care’ that is proposed for MAHC’s hospital redevelopment plan was detailed last week. 

A boisterous, but respectful, crowd sat through a 30-minute presentation from Cheryl Harrison, president and chief executive officer of MAHC, explaining the plan and how she believes it will enhance community services and bring care closer to home, rather than forcing some patients to travel outside of Muskoka to get some services. 

“This model, we’re not losing any services in Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare,” says Harrison, who spoke to the MyMuskokaNow.com newsroom after the meeting. “Are they being provided differently? Absolutely.” 

“It’s not something that has come up overnight,” she adds. 

Harrison explains how the model came to be in Oct. 2023 when they went to the Ministry of Health for cost estimation and found out the project was 50 percent over budget. “We were hearing from the province that construction costs were going through the roof,” she says. 

Harrison says they were told by the Ministry and Infrastructure Ontario that they must rework the project and “innovate” by “efficiently using services” which, she says, meant they had to ensure no services were duplicated. 

After the presentation, residents were given close to two hours to comment and ask questions about the model. 

Multiple people spoke about how they fear this is leading towards losing the hospital in Bracebridge and MAHC moves back to the one-site model that was proposed, but didn’t move forward with, in 2015. 

Harrison says there are no plans for services in Bracebridge to be reduced beyond what’s currently proposed. 

“There’s no intent to just shrink down the Bracebridge site,” she says. “It’s a full-service hospital and it’s going to be a full-service hospital when it opens up.” 

In fact, she says the changes will make the SMMH busier with an estimated 80,000 more patients a year being supported in Bracebridge under the proposed model. 

She says the 14 inpatient beds in Bracebridge are enough to support the services that will be offered. 

However, multiple residents expressed frustration with how the Huntsville site will have 139 inpatient beds. 

“I don’t want to have to travel to Orillia,” one resident shouted. Another, who spoke about how she’s battling cancer, said she’s been “up and down the highway” to see specialists. 

Another point of contention during the meeting was moving obstetrical labour (childbirth) to the Huntsville District Memorial Hospital. 

Harrison says two-thirds of the around 300 childbirths a year are handled at the hospital in Huntsville. Since a low amount happening at the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital (SMMH) in Bracebridge, Harrison says they have trouble keeping staff because they aren’t able to focus on their specialty. 

“If we present a model that’s 50 percent over budget, they have other projects in the lineup,” says Harrison about the province. The new model will, provided MAHC stays within budget, allow them to make the two-hospital redevelopment project work. 

With a project that was already estimated to cost close to $1 billion, Harrison says “we’ve all been very shocked” by how inflation has impacted construction. “I don’t think you could have foreseen this at all,” she says. 

“We’re on the schedule,” she adds about being on the province’s list for financial support. “That’s a huge milestone that we’ve hit.” 

But staying on the province’s schedule means they don’t have time to wait. 

Harrison says the current plan is to put the project out for tender in 2027 and begin construction in 2029. “Every year that we delay, inflation will be added,” she says. 

Harrison also addressed the letter authored by Dr. Rohit Gupta and co-signed by many other physicians from the area criticizing MAHC’s proposed plan. 

Harrison says it’s “wonderful” to see their passion but says a lot of the issues they note in the letter are addressed by the new model, notably the issue of transportation. Harrison says with 10 level three intensive care unit beds in Huntsville, it means those needing that care will not have to travel outside of Muskoka. 

Along with Rick Maloney and Heidi Lorenz, the respective mayors of Bracebridge and Gravenhurst, the majority of both councils were on hand as well as the Mayor of Muskoka Lakes Peter Kelley.

The $225 million local share was reached in Oct. 2023 and featured a $10 million commitment from Bracebridge and $1 million from Gravenhurst. As part of Gravenhurst’s $1 million commitment to the fund, one of the rules for the organization getting the money is that MAHC provides either a walk-in or urgent-care clinic. 

As part of the proposed model, Harrison says they will continue partnerships in the community, notably the one they have with Andy’s House, and build on partnerships like the one they have with the Cottage Country Family Health Team in Gravenhurst. 

“That’s the type of innovation we’re looking at doing with this model of care,” says Harrison. 

While there was shouting and many residents left the meeting frustrated they weren’t given a chance to speak, one resident said “we don’t want a battle” to which most of the assembled cheered or nodded in agreement. 

“We need to find something that is sustainable, affordable, and supports all of Muskoka,” they added to rousing applause. 

The meeting in Gravenhurst was the second of a handful scheduled by MAHC, including one on Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Bracebridge Sportsplex.