Sudbury Outpatient Centre to remain open

Health Sciences North will continue to be able to run programs out of its Sudbury Outpatient Centre, thanks to a March 28 decision by the North East Local Health Integration Network's (LHIN) board of directors.

Back in 1996, the Health Services Restructuring Commission directed the various hospitals in Sudbury to consolidate services to a single site under a single corporation, with all other sites to be decommissioned.

However, while the St. Joseph's Health Centre site closed when the new hospital was completed in 2010, the former Memorial Hospital, now known as the Sudbury Outpatient Centre, continues to be used for various hospital services.

These include the Centre for Complex Diabetes Care and Diabetes Self-Management and the Bariatric Assessment and Referral Service, to name a few.

Health Sciences North plans to expand services to include seniors care and more chronic disease management programs.

The North East LHIN gave its draft approval at its January meeting for the Sudbury Outpatient Centre to remain open, but finalized that decision last month. The decision still needs to be approved by the province.

“The future of health care will increasingly revolve around more community-based care that is more responsive to the needs of people and more effective in managing chronic conditions and seniors health,” said Health Sciences North CEO Dr. Denis Roy in a press release.

“At HSN, we are developing a patient-centred concept of health, and the Sudbury Outpatient Centre is key to this evolution in care.”