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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-04-07, Page 10Psge 10 Times -Advocate, April 7,1993 SPECIA! FF.ATIIRF. District Health Council Yes XETER - The Huron County District Health Council Steer- ing Committee de- scribes a health coun- cil as a health planning board made up of volun- teer citizens who represent provid- ers, local government and consu- mers. They plan health care services for their communities on an inte- grated basis. The counties of Huron and Perth have a distinction about them when it comes to health care - they are the only counties in the province which do not have a District Health Council. Recently an advisory board was ,appointed for the Huron County -District Health Council Steering Committee. The board has received about 70. applications and from !those, they -will select the commit - lee. What that committee will do, is provide information about health planning for those who are interest- ed and also, recommend an appro- priate structure for the council..to serve Huron County. The decision to seek information on whether or not Huron needs a health council, is not a new one. "The issue has been addressed in the past," said Paul Carroll, chair- man of the Steering Committee. "In the early 1970's there was a steer- ing committee, it was tamed down by one vote," he said of how close the county almost came to having a council some 20 years ago. There have been several reasons why Huron. County has opposed a health council. S suggest that Ilte current • • t each hos- peal, each -tgency, the County ;Board of Health and other groups setting their own directions independently is the best way. Not being pushed thers believe a DHC is really an excuse to let the province off the hook when tit comes to tough deci- sions. Don Currell, Administrator of South Huron Hospital says the ministry is not pushing a DHC onto Huron -Perth. "They're claiming they are not pushing it. They have never come out and said you have to have a DHC. One of the options the steer- ing committee has is to say we don't want it," said Currell. Back in the spring of 1 at a public meeting at the Alexan Marine iiEd General Hospital in Goderich, about 30 groups and in- dividuals ended up writing to the Ministry of Health stating their concern for settin up a steering committee. Across the provi c, it appears as though the role of the District Health Councils is changing. In an information brochure dis- tributed randomly throughout Hu- ron County, the steering committee says those who support the concept recognize the two counties could be losing out on certain funding for special projects. Currell said Huron County needs more representation at the Ministry of Health level so their concerns can be heard. "This hospital has written to the Ministry of Health and stated we support a Huron -Perth Health Council," said Correll. The council would probably be one which takes in both counties because it is usually based on a council per 100,000 population. Cutrell hints a DHC could be beneficial. "From a corporate viewpoint, there is so much going on and so many decisions being made at DHCs:tthat we don't haveinput into. 'fie miss information that maybe we should have that would help us run our places," he said. Could benefit e also said a DHC could help when it came to individual projects a hospital may be working on. "If we try to put a project together to study something to see if it is going to benefit the hospitals in our community, we have to turn inwardly. If we had a DHC, we could say we have a pro- ject we would like to look into and is it feasible an example would be can we get together with other hos- pitals on a a gzoug:purchese." AMAktillk uuititateln administration at the Leamington Hospital before :.Coming to Exeter and there, he was -on, a subcommittee of a Windsor - Essex County Health Council. As far as the day-to-day opera- tion of a hospital is concerned, a DHC has little authority. "They don't have the authority over hospitals to say no, they only .have authority to recommend to the Aministry," said Ctkren. But even while Huron and Perth Counties look into having a DHC, the province is looking into ex- panding the role of the DHC itself. In the 1991 Orser report which is called 'Working Together to Achieve Better Health For All', it is recommended the existing volun- teer and staff resources and operat- ing budgets within the District Health Council will be incorporated into what the report proposes as new Regional and Area Health Management Boards. "The Health Councils in Ontario are shifting into multi -disciplinary and inter -ministry committees and their functions are growing rapid- ly," said Carroll. In this way, according to the re- port, the benefits of the experience and expertise which exist in the DHC's can be utilized without addi- tional costs for the administration of the system. r Discussions continue ion -Perth have a son committee which meet four times a year and the subject of a DHC has come up several times in the past. "There have been many discus- sions over the years of the pros and cons. Many discussions have not 'been about pros and cons but of trying to educate ourselves about DHC's'" And what is the price of a DHC? The 32 existing DHC's currently cost Tess than one-tenth of one per- cent of the total Ministry of Health budget. The cost of operating a District Health Council - office and a small professional and secretarial staff is paid by the Ministry of Health. Di- rect assistance is provided by staff from the Ministry of Health Infor- mation, Planning and Evaluation Branch who provide technical as- sistance. In Huron County, it is estimated health care costs between S60-70 million but the total benefit to Hu- ron County residents is probably a lot higher since many residents use other services in other areas such as London and Stratford. Currell said if a DHC is set up in Huron -Perth there is a possibility, according to the Orser report, the DHC may be responsible for pro- viding funding to the local hospi- tals through an envelope -funding method. That would involve hospitals sit- ting down with the DHC and nego- tiating.their individual budgets. Whether or not a DHC in Huron County would work is yet un- known. It's function seems to be a mystery to many but it will be up to the committee to sec if one is actually needed. The Medical Officer of Health for Huron County, Dr. Maarten Bokhout, admits he is sell doing research on the advantages and dis- advantages of a DHC. "I haven't served on one in the past but I do think we need a form of a District Health Council," said Bokhout. He added the structure pf a DHC leaves snrrtetlupg ,Go be �lesipl';,e cause tii'1him, tree iht-,A2 would look at new programs in- stead of existing ones. Bokhout said if a DHC was to be set up, it could affect the amount of funding which comes to the county. "You put a DHC in placeand it makes it easier for the province to look at cutting back on funding." There are five hospitals in Huron County and Bokhout said if there is a DHC that number could be re- duced. Hospital's # plans �fold EXETER - Looking into the future of health care is no easy task. It's time consuming and at times fru,iag. Those involved with the proposed District Health Council t•e.hold- ing their first meeting on April 14 at the Clinton Town >`f>st1 7:30 p.tn. The structure of the 18 -member committee avjJl be announced at that time. This meeting is open to the public:s t Other meeting dates are April 28, May26, iiine 9, June 16, June 23 and June 30. While it was originally planned for the fourth part of this series to be published in next week's edition, that,(f.n delayed. South HAM Hospital's Strategic Planning Committee continues to work onplans the future which, is scheduled to be released later this month. Part Four of the series will be printed once those details are released by I the hospital. If you're in business consider this... Over 15,000 people will read this newspaper this week. Many of them will be your customers. Let us design an effective advertising campaign foryou. 424 Main St. Exeter 235-1331 Fax: 2350766 7i'\`