The Rural Voice, 1996-11, Page 25Aside from the convenience of
setting appointments more easily,
Woldnik also points out that a second
opinion is very convenient to obtain.
From the doctors' point of view, a
group practice has several
advantages. A new arrival can be
very busy the first day in the office,
as appointments are shared with
those on duty.
The doctors in the Seaforth
practice also have much more
flexibility in how they run
their portion of the clinical services.
"If a physician wants to work part-
time and continue studies, that is
fine," said Woldnik. "If a doctor,
male or female, wants time off for
paternity/maternity leave or family
emergencies, there is no problem
because there are others here to fill-
in. It is very much like a family."
That family atmosphere is central
to Seaforth's recruiting methods. It is
the doctors, business administrator
and CEO of Seaforth Community
Hospital who go in search of new
members. They look for the
personality of the doctor as well as
their willingness to fill a role in the
'family' and be a team player. This
method allows the Seaforth clinic to
supply all the needs of the
community.
A key component to the recruiting
was to bring more female physicians
to the area. Seaforth now boasts four
of nine female doctors in Huron
County and five of 10 females who
deliver babies. The fifth, a mid -wife,
is a recent addition.
"The recruitment was very planned
and aggressive," said Woldnik. "The
job now is to convince other
physicians this works."
(A new medical clinic will be built
behind Wingham and District
Hospital next year. The effort is
aimed at both meeting the needs of
the community and better utilizing
hospital facilities.)
This forward -thinking model may
be just what other communities and
municipalities will have to look at as
the restructuring process sweeps the
province. Not only is the recruiting
of physicians a priority, but also
providing a hospital facility from
which they can practice.
Whether provincial funding cuts to
hospital budgets are 2.5 per cent or
eight per cent, a rationalizing of
services provided is essential in the
health care sector.
Often described as the guinea pig
for hospital restructuring, a sub-
committee for the Grey -Bruce
District Health Council (DHC) has
spent the last several months
developing recommendations for
reorganization in the region.
The group, which consists of 23
volunteers from every corner of the
two counties and draws on the
experience of health care workers,
professionals and consumers,
developed recommendations to be
taken to the public for input.
What was intended to be a
jumping-off point for community
discussions, inviting responses and
suggestions for improvement, turned,
at times, into booing, jeering and
Team approach
key to recruiting
doctors —
Dr. Mark Woldnik
uproarious sessions.
"The intent of the steering
committee was to address the needs
of each community," said Peter
Bantock, committee member and
representative from the DHC.
"The key (to the recommendations)
was to maintain or enhance access to
services. There are gaps now. There
never has been perfect access."
In dealing with budget cuts,
Bantock said the committee looked at
restructuring without affecting
clinical services. Areas such as
amalgamating the laundry and food
services would be considered, where
there would be no impact on service
to patients.
The first suggestion would see two
district hospitals, one in Hanover/
Walkerton and the other in Owen
Sound, with 12 to 20 primary health
centres (PHC) with emergency
centres in the remaining
communities.
The second idea brought forward
would leave only Owen Sound with a
regional hospital, working in
conjunction with community
hospitals and PHCs.
(The two counties now have 10
hospitals, spread from Lion's Head to
to Collingwood, Durham and Kincar-
dine.)
Those recommendations have
brought considerable distress to the
12,000 to 15,000 Grey -Bruce
residents who attended the 11 public
meetings.
The restructuring of hospitals is a
big concern to the farmers and their
urban neighbours, says Jim Farrell,
president of the Bruce County
Federation of Agriculture.
After attending two of the public
sessions, Farrell felt residents were
skeptical about the 30 minute
travelling time used as a guide for the
steering committee's
recommendations.
"We don't feel that is acceptable,
due to the nature of the climate in the
area and the Ministry of
Transportation cuts to road service.
We are concerned about the ability of
ambulances to respond in a
reasonable time or for residents to get
to a hospital. Last year, Highway. 21
was closed at least once between
December and February (because of
weather)," said Farrell.
In the committee's defense,
Bantock said the Ministry of Health's
guidelines for travel time is 45
minutes, but they decided that was
too much.
Farrell believes there should be no
move to a more centralized system
for a majority of hospital services at
least until such time as the counties
have the 911 system. "Ambulances
coming from greater distances will
have difficulty locating rural
residences."
Aside from the medical aspects of
altering the function of rural
hospitals, Farrell worries about the
spin-off effect on the business
community. There may be a problem
attracting business people to an area
with no full-service hospital. The
workers expect health care which is
equal to that of the cities.
Employment in other sectors such
as those that serve the health care
industry may also be affected.
Suppliers and outside services who
contribute to the running of a facility
would see their client base cut.
Site-specific concerns which arose
at the public sessions included the
closing of the radiation
decontamination chamber at thc
Kincardine hospital, a necessary
treatment facility due to thc
NOVEMBER 1996 21