Greater Sudbury Northern Life Reporter Janet Gibson
Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci wants to see an end to the alternate level of care crisis before the one-site hospital opens at the end of 2009.
But before the North East Local Health Integration Network throws more money at the problem, he said hospital administrators and doctors must come up with a plan of action and take it to the LHIN.
In an emergency press conference on Nov. 6, hospital officials and a physician representative informed the community that the ALC crisis was about to become a catastrophe unless the LHIN, which plans and funds health care services in the north east, came up with solutions.
Alternate level of care patients are those that have been treated at the hospital and continue to take up beds because there's nowhere else for them to go. For example, there may not be any long-term care beds available.
The bottleneck results in increased wait times in the emergency department and cancelled surgeries. It's a problem that's shared by hospitals across Ontario, but is particularly bad in the north east.
Bartolucci said he's been hearing about it for years.
"For five years, we've been putting in money and interim term beds," he said.
The LHIN, he said, has a "pretty significant envelope of money. If more money is required, the LHIN goes to the Ministry (of Health and Long-Term Care) and advocates (on behalf of the community) in order to solve this problem. I hope (the LHIN) understands the significance (of it)."
Bartolucci said he's had conversations with the LHIN, hospital administrators and doctors. "What the doctors have said to me is that they want to see a plan of action."
On Nov. 12, nine doctors sent a letter to the community through the media that said the hospital risks losing doctors if the crisis isn't resolved soon.
"This is not good for ALC patients who need an environment that meets their care needs. Our hospital is not staffed or physically designed to provide the care these patients require," the letter said in part.
When asked if the doctors, who bill OHIP for their services, are worried about lost wages, hospital chief of staff Dr. Chris McKibbon shook his head no. "It's about the ability to feel proud of what you do," he said.
