Medcura Health Care has been given a $10,000 contract by Bracebridge council to give them a second opinion on Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s (MAHC) hospital redevelopment plan.
The decision was made during the Sept. 3 General Committee meeting, but still needs to be confirmed during the Sept. 11 council meeting.
In a report to committee, Stephen Rettie, chief administrative officer, said Medcura was chosen after staff reached out to the Ontario Medical Association, the Ontario Health Coalition, private sector consultants, and former municipal officials in other jurisdictions. “Through these efforts, staff identified Medcura as being a well-qualified candidate to complete the required work,” he wrote.
He added Dave Murray, principal of Medcura, will handle the work, which will include:
- A review of the current planning process to date.
- A “short” environmental scan to “ensure the community’s unique characteristics have been considered.”
- A review of similar projects.
- An analysis of demographics and growth patterns for the area.
- An examination of how new approaches for healthcare delivery are being considered in MAHC’s planning process.
- Speaking with officials working for the Government of Ontario, Ontario Health, and MAHC, among other stakeholders.
Rettie outlined how Murray will be tasked with analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of MAHC’s proposed “Made-in-Muskoka healthcare system.” But he cautioned while Murray will make “best efforts” to engage with various stakeholders, the “limited timeline” for the report to be completed may not allow for the consultation to be too extensive.
“Mr. Murray has a long career advocating for northern, rural and indigenous health issues,” he continued. “Throughout his career, he has been chief executive officer of eight diverse health organizations across Ontario and has governance experience on over a dozen boards in Ontario’s health and education sectors, as well as a U.S. hospital.”
Paul Judson, director of finance and treasurer, who Rettie noted has been working closely with Murray to figure out the scope of his work, said the report will give council an expert opinion on next steps. “Since he’s the expert, we don’t want to put any guardrails in how he wants to look at the topic,” added Judson.
In his report, Rettie detailed MAHC’s redevelopment process so far, which includes having a plan to collect $225 million as part of a local share commitment. Bracebridge, along with the District of Muskoka, the separate Huntsville and South Muskoka Hospital Foundations, Huntsville, municipalities of Almaguin Highlands, and Gravenhurst, agreed to contribute to the fund.
However, last month, Bracebridge agreed to have town staff look into potentially putting conditions on its $10 million portion of the fund. The commitment included the town donating 300 Pine St., which was chosen by MAHC as the landing spot for the new hospital site in Bracebridge.
At the time, Bracebridge’s Mayor Rick Maloney said MAHC has “welded their train to the tracks” with a model that isn’t supported by many physicians in south Muskoka, nor the community.
The day prior to the July Planning and Development Committee meeting, MAHC directed its consultants to start working on the “formal, detailed planning, and documentation” in preparation of them submitting its proposal to the Ministry of Health in November.
A similar condition was approved by District of Muskoka council last month.
