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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2009-11-18, Page 11News The Huron Expositor • November 18, 2009- Page 11 Alliance will poll public with meetings, telephone surveys From Page 1 service duplication across sites, re- patriate patients back to Huron and Perth who currently receive care elsewhere and introduce new servic- es such as child and adolescent men- tal health beds and an MRI (magnet- ic resonance imaging). While the Alliance planned to hold eight community workshops which required prior registration and were closed to the media in late summer, a low enrolment reduced the number of meetings to three, with 32 partici- pants in total. "We had hoped to have many more people involved," says Williams. "The registration was to make sure we had enough juice at the meetings and the right number of people to have a meaningful discussion." However, he said the registration was so low that the results couldn't be used statistically. A recent report to the Alliance board said that while evaluation re- sponses at the workshop were often "excellent" and "very good," many of the participants worked or had worked in healthcare and were not representative of the community. At the community workshops, there was strong support for the centres of specialty concept, the status quo is not an option but an "emotional" re- sponse to the idea of reducing hours at any of the four hospitals' emer- gency depart- ments. As well, the re- port said there are "varying levels of trust for the Al- liance's motives" and the partici- pants "want to see proof that a recon- figuration will im- prove access." Other responses showed concern for the care of the aging and worry about having. ,to travel to see loved ones and the iso- lation of older pa- tients. Results from a meeting held with representatives of the Seaforth and Clinton commu- recognition that nities showed that a 24-hour ER is the most important issue with ques- tions asked about whether there are enough doctors to care for patients at multiple sites and where pallia- tive care will be offered. "The community workshops were just , one piece of the process," says Williams. He says a fall report from the Al- liance to the community in late No- vember, included in weekend flyer bags that are received by each house- hold in Huron and Perth counties, • will include questions and answers about change in healthcare. A telephone survey will follow up the fall report and meetings will be- gin in early December and continue into January in the form of "commu- nity talks" and "open forums." Williams says the . "community talks" will include a presentation about the Vision 2013 plans, some time for Q and A and "table work" where participants are divided into groupsfor smaller discussion groups. The "open forums" will be more like town hall meetings without the small group discussions. Throughout the fall, an online survey will also be reopened on the Alliance website where anyone .in- Thurs. & Fri. Nov., 19 A 20 9a.m.-9p.m. Sat. Nov. 21 9a.m.-6p.m. Sun. Noo 22 10 a.m.-5P. terested can fill out their answers to questions about the Vision 2013 plans. The survey was originally posted online during the time the community workshops were held. Williams says he's also willing to receive letters from members of the public or meet individually with peo- ple. "We don't want to be perceived as not transparent," he says. Williams says that feedback so far includes the common thread that there is public understanding that the whole healthcare environment is changing. "Almost to a person, people rec- ognize that we have to change. We know we have to stay before the curve," he says. He adds that while the current pro- vincial deficit makes hospitals un- certain about their financial futures, the Vision 2013 is not just driven by finances. "We want to use all of our four fa- cilities to their full potential and we're committed 100 per cent to all four sites," says Williams. He says that while he'd originally hoped to have some recommenda- tions to take to the Alliance board by the end of 2009, he's now hoping the public engagment process will be complete in the new year. Williams says that while he doesn't know what the specific recommenda- tions to the Alliance board will be yet, some of them - specifically any dealing with reduced hours at emer- gency departments - will have to be taken to the South West LHIN (Lo- cal Health Integration Network) for approval. "We're not about to implement our ideas without LHIN involvement. 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