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Gregg McClelland Several Kincardine councillors
support the Friends of the Kincardine Hospital in their fight to
de-amalgamate the site from the South Bruce Grey Health Centre. Others
aren't so sure.
In the public forum at the council meeting Wednesday (Oct. 21), Friends
chairman Gregg McClelland took issue with mayor Larry Kraemer discussing
a letter, addressed to him, with Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell and
officials at the South Bruce Grey Health Centre during a meeting Oct. 9.
The mayor then discussed the letter with council at the meeting Oct. 14.
Sent by Ken Deane, assistant deputy minister, accountability and
performance division, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, the
letter stated that the ministry does not support de-amalgamation of
Kincardine from the health centre which also includes hospitals in
Walkerton, Chesley and Durham.
McClelland did not receive the letter by E-mail until Oct. 13, and the
actual letter arrived in the mail Oct. 16 with an Oct. 14 post-date from
Toronto. He said this is an invasion of privacy. Turning to the mayor,
he said, "How do you account for that?"
Since council allows no discussion at the public forum stage, the letter
was discussed later in committee-of-the-whole.
Deputy mayor Laura Haight said that it's been about a year since
Kincardine hosted a stakeholders' meeting. Now, the community has
received written notification (from Deane) that de-amalgamation is off
the table. "We supported the Friends of the Kincardine Hospital in their
bid to find ways to improve health care at the Kincardine hospital," she
said. "Perhaps it's time to hold another meeting or for Kincardine to
meet with the Friends and Huron-Kinloss (residents use the hospital) and
determine what steps we should take on a proactive basis."
She said that while health care is not a municipal jurisdiction,
governance issues at the Kincardine hospital could benefit from
municipal involvement. "We're already involved in health care," she
said. "We've spent money on the clinic and on physician recruitment.
Soon, we'll be looking at a redevelopment plan for the hospital. We need
to work together on this."
Addressing McClelland's concerns, Kraemer said the Oct. 9 meeting was
called by Mitchell. "I was asked by the MPP to share that letter with
council at my earliest opportunity and that's what I did," he said.
Kraemer said a number of health care issues were discussed at that
meeting, including the governance of the Kincardine hospital. In
particular, the subject came up of allowing municipal representation on
the hospital board. "We were told in 2002-03 that it was a conflict of
interest and the Ontario Hospital Association was against it. Now Dan
Gieruszak, a Brockton councillor, is chairman of the health centre
board. We should look at the governance model again, and we need to talk
to other councils about it."
Councillor Marsha Leggett was not impressed that council was unaware of
this health care meeting being held. "I think the Friends of the
Kincardine Hospital should go ahead with what they're doing," she said.
"I'm behind you all the way."
Councillor Randy Roppel suggested council sit down with the Friends and
have an open and honest discussion about health care in Kincardine. "We
have a major problem here," he said. "We can find time to talk about
hospital issues with whoever, but we cannot find time to sit down with
you people (Friends) and discuss if we have common ground on this. If we
can't separate from all the evildoers, then we should sit down and see
how to make this work."
He said he was at the meeting in Ottawa with the health ministry
representatives who made it clear they would not support de-amalgamation
in Kincardine. A letter came to the mayor later, stating Kincardine's
concerns about health care but there was no mention of de-amalgamation,
said Roppel. "You, Larry (Kraemer), made the statement that
de-amalgamation was not allowed. But if it's not in print, it's just
hollow words."
Councillor Kenneth Craig supported the idea of the municipality
mediating another meeting of the health care stakeholders. "But I'm
confused about how municipal representation at a hospital board meeting
would affect changes in the governance model," he said. "I would not
support having a municipal representative at a board meeting until we
have the opportunity to talk to other municipal councils."
"I fully support the Friends of the Kincardine Hospital," said
councillor Ron Hewitt. "The health ministry said it does not support
separation from the health centre, but it did not say it isn't possible.
I encourage the Friends to continue on. They have a lot of smart people
there. We're still losing services at our hospital, and if we don't do
something, we won't have a hospital."
Haight said the push for de-amalgamation could jeopardize the
redevelopment of the hospital because the same people voting on that
project are the ones the Friends are going to war with over
de-amalgamation. "Health care goes beyond municipal borders. The
original idea was for the Friends to look at options for improving
health care at the Kincardine hospital. Now, let's look at the LHIN
(Local Health Integrated Network)'s goals and objectives and the needs
of the Kincardine hospital and see how we can advance those at the board
level." She suggested Kincardine and Huron-Kinloss sit down with the
Friends and find out what items can be improved at the Kincardine site.
Councillor Guy Anderson supported the idea of a meeting with the Friends
and the two councils. "This has dragged on long enough," he said. "We'll
have the new gymnasium built at the Davidson Centre before we sort this
out."
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Dr. Gary Gurbin, a member of the Friends of the Kincardine
Hospital, was allowed to speak. He thanked council for considering a
meeting with the Friends. The group was planning to meet that night
(Oct. 21) and would determine an opportunity for a meeting with the two
councils.
Craig suggested that meeting should include representatives from the
hospital board so everyone could debate the "whole story."
"The Friends of the Kincardine Hospital have asked council for some open
dialogue here," said Roppel. "We should meet with these people first and
go at the hospital representatives later."
Gurbin agreed, saying the Friends would likely prefer a meeting with
just the councils, given the experience the Friends have had over the
past year.
Council agreed and will await word from the Friends to set a date for
that meeting.
In an interview after the meeting, Kraemer said the letter from Deane
was actually addressed to the Friends of the Kincardine Hospital, not
just McClelland. "I'm not surprised by his remarks, though," said
Kraemer. "I was told that the letter had already been sent to him, so I
shared the information with council. It's information for all residents,
not just the Friends of the Kincardine Hospital. Everyone has a right to
know."
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