Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) is clarifying its hospital redevelopment plan is still being worked on.
Bobbie Clark, director of communication and stakeholder relations for MAHC, confirms MAHC’s “Made-in-Muskoka healthcare system” proposal will not be submitted to the Ministry of Health until November.
“That means the plan is still being worked on,” she says.
The clarification comes after what Clark calls a “misunderstood” motion by MAHC’s board of directors last week.
“The decision by the board means that they have given permission to consultants to start designing ideas,” she explains. “These designs will be flexible to fit future healthcare needs.”
In response to MAHC’s decision, 54 physicians, mostly based in South Muskoka, wrote a letter to the board of directors.
“We continue to oppose the hospital redevelopment proposal,” they say in the July 1 letter. “Despite reports of collaboration, we have not seen Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare make any further substantial changes to their model as we continue to express concerns for patient care.”
They said their top concerns are related to patient transportation, acute care bed capacity, and the long-term viability of the future South Muskoka Memorial Hospital in Bracebridge.
Clark says three working groups will be created involving doctors from North and South Muskoka, adding the issues outlined in the physicians’ letter will be among the topics discussed.
Along with physician pushback, the motion was opposed by Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Graydon Smith and Bracebridge’s Mayor Rick Maloney.
“Any further work on MAHC’s model needs to come to a full stop,” said Maloney in his July 2 Facebook post. “I have lost trust in MAHC’s process.”
Clark says the feedback MAHC gets in the coming months will be included in its submission to the provincial government.
“The team at MAHC believes that improving these hospitals is crucial to giving better healthcare to Muskoka residents while still keeping all core services available at both the Bracebridge and Huntsville sites,” she says. “Local healthcare workers are doing a great job, and MAHC wants to support them even more with these changes.”
