District Chair Jeff Lehman is optimistic after the first meeting of the Alternative Level of Care (ALC) Working Group.
In July, district council agreed to make its $77.3 million commitment to Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s (MAHC) local share fund for its hospital redevelopment proposal conditional pending council approving the plan before its submitting to the Ministry of Health this fall.
Along with that, they included a point to have Lehman take a more active role “to advocate for the district.”
“For many months, I’ve been speaking with hospital staff and members of the board, physicians from both north and south Muskoka, and community representatives from all parts of the district,” he said Thursday morning. “I’m more convinced than ever of the importance of the project, the need for the service model to evolve to meet the needs of the future, and that the current differences of opinion in Muskoka are not impossible to overcome – although flexibility is needed by all.”
Lehman explained how around 30 percent of the patients at the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital in Bracebridge and Huntsville District Memorial Hospital are classified as ALC.
“These are patients who should be living in another type of care facility, or at home, but can’t leave hospital because there isn’t space available in care facilities, the services and supports they need are not available at home, they can’t find the type of housing they need, or they can’t afford to leave hospital – or all of the above,” he continued.
Lehman pointed out how the district is working to beef up affordable housing availability in the district, which includes the recently announced project in Bracebridge.
“The goal of the ALC working group will be to come alongside the MAHC hospital planning project with our own joint effort to find, build, and create community solutions to the current ALC capacity concerns across our region in the coming years,” shared Lehman.
The ALC working group is one of three working groups MAHC agreed to create last month to hear concerns about the “Made-in-Muskoka healthcare system” proposal. “Everyone genuinely wants to improve the system and build better health care for Muskoka, even if they don’t always agree,” said Lehman. “We can get good things done here if we keep our eyes on the goal.”
