Huron-Kinloss Council

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The new chief executive officer of the Wingham-Listowel Hospital Alliance made his first appearance at Huron-Kinloss council during its general committee meeting Monday (March 7).

Karl Ellis has held the job since November, 2010, having worked at Mount Forest and Palmerston hospitals for the past 10 years. He also worked a short time in Walkerton.

"I have a good understanding of rural Ontario and rural health care," he says.

He urged council to check out the province's recently-released document, "Rural and North Ontario Health Framework."

"It describes what they think of health care in rural Ontario," says Ellis. "The document defines access in terms of distances, and an urban centre as having a population of 30,000."

He says the report states that any residence in the rural area should be within 30 minutes of a doctor, within 30 minutes of a 24-hour emergency room department, and within one hour of in-patient care.

"I think of the South Bruce Grey Health Centre, which includes centres in Kincardine, Walkerton, Chesley and Durham," says Ellis, "and then there's Hanover nearby. They're within an hour of each other. The definitions are pretty narrow for access to in-patient services. I'm not sure a lot of residents in rural Ontario are aware of that document."

He says in-patient services mean there is a hospital bed available. "This is the first time I've seen a document defining a hospital without in-patient hospital beds."

Ellis was at the township committee meeting with Jan McKague-Weishar, recruitment officer with the Wingham and Area Health Professionals Recruitment Committee.

The committee's goal is to ensure access to primary health care for the 15,000 people in the Wingham Hospital's catchment area. Nine thousand patients are currently rostered with the North Huron Family Health Team, she said. The remaining 6,000 people have either not been rostered, have a physician outside the Wingham area, or have no physician at all.

McKague-Weishar said Wingham is designated under-serviced by four physicians. It currently has six doctors working at the hospital and clinic as well as a small pool of regular locums (doctors who fill in on a temporary basis).

She said the committee works hard to recruit and retain its doctors, visiting medical schools and conferences where prospective new recruits can be found. The committee promotes rural health care experiences for high school, post-secondary and medical students.

Its retention efforts are promoted through the annual "Doctor Appreciation Week." Community businesses and schools participate in recognizing the local doctors' commitment to health care in the community.

McKague-Weishar said two new doctors joined last year, one being a general surgeon who became part of the Wingham-Listowel team in July. Two nurse practitioners joined the Family Health Team in January, 2011, and four doctors have been added to the pool of Emergency Room and locum regular doctors.

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Tuesday, March 08, 2011