(October 29, 2015)<\/p>\n
By\u00a0Luke Hendry, The Intelligencer<\/p>\n
Luke Hendry\/The Intelligencer Prince Edward County Mayor Robert Quaiff speaks during a special meeting of area mayors and health officials at Hastings County headquarters in Belleville Thursday. Mayors attacked Ontario’s new funding formula for hospitals. With him at the table were Mayors Jim Harrison of Quinte West, back left, Mark Walas of Brighton and Taso Christopher of Belleville.<\/p>\n
Local health authorities and politicians agree on one thing: they need to meet more frequently.
\nAt the invitation of Hastings County officials, area mayors and administrators of Quinte Health Care and the South East Local Integration Network (LHIN) met Thursday for a special meeting at county headquarters in Belleville.
\nIt was largely an education session, with all sides stating their views and doing their share of listening.
\nPresent were the mayors of Belleville, Quinte West, Prince Edward County, Bancroft and Brighton. Joining them at the county\u2019s invitation was John Smylie, chairman of Our Trenton Memorial Hospital.
\nThe mayors of Hastings Highlands, Carlow\/Mayo and Tweed watched from the audience.
\nPoliticians attacked Ontario\u2019s funding formula for hospitals. They complained of municipalities facing rising costs from provincial downloading and uncertainty about what hospital cuts will mean for both the quality of care and municipal budgets.
\n\u201cThis funding formula is broken,\u201d said Prince Edward County Mayor Robert Quaiff.
\n\u201cNot knowing where we\u2019re going is going to be a problem,\u201d Belleville Mayor Taso Christopher added.
\nThe mayors agreed on the need for a united front against the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
\n\u201cWe should be collectively working together for better service and speak as one voice. It gives you more credibility when you work with the province,\u201d Quaiff said.
\nHe said QHC \u201cis not our enemy\u201d and municipal leaders should work with the corporation and help to create \u201cbetter funding formulas and better understanding from the province.
\nQuaiff said he \u201ccould care less if I have 10 beds\u201d at the Picton hospital so long as residents receive proper care.
\nBancroft Mayor Bernice Jenkins said North Hastings Hospital is \u201cbasically \u2026 an outpost hospital.\u201d It was a reference to the hospital\u2019s founding as Red Cross Outpost Hospital in 1927.
\n\u201cOur residents are an hour-and-a-half, two hours from a large hospital,\u201d Jenkins said.
\nShe said residents would love \u201call the bells and whistles\u201d of health care but \u201cwe must keep what we have.\u201d
\nQuinte Health Care president and chief executive officer Mary Clare Egberts said she doubted even a group challenge of the formula \u201cwould get anywhere\u201d with the ministry. She explained Ontario\u2019s fiscal problems are provincial, not regional or local.
\nEgberts defended the province\u2019s funding formula, saying the previous system was broken.
\nShe acknowledged, however, southeastern Ontario suffers more under the new formula \u201cbecause we just don\u2019t have population growth.\u201d
\nShe said QHC must cut $11.5 million in the next fiscal year. She said the only program QHC proposes cutting is its pain clinic. She said senior staff want to create a regional program in partnership with other organizations.
\n\u201cIt is a service that doesn\u2019t need to be in a hospital,\u201d she said, and more specialized staff elsewhere can provide better care.
\nShe also noted that of the 2,400 day surgeries being move from Trenton to Belleville, 70 per cent of patients of those surgeries in the past were from outside the Quinte West-Brighton area.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s a very small change for our patients for what we\u2019re able to retain.\u201d
\nEgberts said QHC\u2019s recent grade of 99.9 per cent from Accreditation Canada is proof it\u2019s providing high-quality care.
\nThe LHIN\u2019s Kennedy said the provincial agency is concerned about per-capita health spending. The LHIN allocates $1.2 billion annually to its region of 500,000 people.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve had more than our fair share of the pie given our population.\u201d
\nShe and Egberts said residents must take greater responsibility for their own health.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re not doing ourselves any favours with our own habits,\u201d said Kennedy, noting the local rates of poor nutrition, lack of exercise and smoking all surpass the Ontario averages, as do cases of lung disease, mental health issues and some cancers.
\nEgberts asked municipalities to help QHC recruit doctors, to address transportation concerns and to educate the public about the need for changes in health care.
\nPoliticians said they\u2019ve committed millions of dollars toward health care. Hastings County chief administrative officer Jim Pine asked if they should redirect donations for hospital capital projects to transportation. Egberts replied the parties should discuss it further.
\nQuinte West Mayor Jim Harrison said there\u2019s a limit to how municipalities can help and the province must realize it.
\n\u201cI\u2019m being expected to put more dollars toward what they\u2019re downloading onto me,\u201d he said.
\nOur TMH\u2019s Smylie, meanwhile, said he was encouraged by the way in which all sides discussed local health care. But he said Our TMH and the Ontario Health Coalition are still expecting more than 1,000 people at their Nov. 13 rally at the Trenton hospital to protest hospital cuts.
\nHastings County Warden Rick Phillips said he remains upset at the area\u2019s no-growth status. He said he understands Ontario\u2019s position but receiving less health funding hurts doctor recruitment and economic development.
\n\u201cAll of our residents still need quality health care,\u201d he said.
\nHe, Egberts and Christopher also said Thursday\u2019s discussion was productive and further talks would be wise. Christopher made a point of saying LHIN officials have never met with his council.
\nluke.hendry@sunmedia.ca<\/p>\n