LHINs representatives update Peel councillors on their activities
By Bill Rea

The provision of health care has been a concern of late, especially to people in the Caledon and Brampton area.

But the people responsible for delivery at the local level are working to make sure the problems are ironed out.

There are two Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN) serving Peel, and representatives of both recently provided updates for Regional council.

"We are maturing as an organization," commented Caledon resident Joe McReynolds, chair of the board of directors of the Central West LHIN.

He told councillors they have been busy building relationships within the community. And as of April, there are more responsibilities for integration, financing and monitoring these services. McReynolds assured councillors the LHIN staffers are learning and getting ready to start making some tough decisions.

During the last summer, he said the LHIN spent a lot of time monitoring the building of the new Brampton Civic Hospital in the northern area of the city. There have been some problems reported with this new facility, and McReynolds observed the Province has appointed a supervisor, Ken White, to work on sorting things out.

He added the LHIN has seen new recent funding to help it respond to some of its priority areas, such as addiction programs.

Mimi Lowi-Young, CEO of the Central West LHIN and McReynolds both commented on an integrated health services plan that's being developed. She said it will serve as a foundation.

Lowi-Young commented that Health Minister George Smitherman and Premier Dalton McGuinty had asked them to look at what's needed in the area, with a focus on putting the the campus of the old Peel Memorial Hospital to some use, including the possibility of providing acute care and other services in the community.

There have been about a dozen community engagement sessions, involving medical care providers, etc., aimed at gathering thoughts and ideas.

She added the plan will be looking toward developing services to be needed until 2019, as well as what is needed now.

Lowi-Young said the LHIN set up a task force to look into what should be done with the old Peel Memorial Hospital site. It should be issuing a preliminary report early in February, with a final report by the end of the month. The LHIN will be making its report in April, she said, adding there will be more opportunities for the community to have input.

The LHIN is also working on a provincial initiative dealing with the issue of aging at home. Lowi-Young said LHINs all over the province have been directed to look at increasing services needed to keep seniors living in their homes longer. This involves looking into such areas as local transportation, respite care, etc. She added they have received about 65 proposals on how certain services can be enhanced or increased. As well, she said they are looking at the numbers of elderly people currently in hospitals who could be better served in the community, thus freeing up emergency facilities.

Regional Chairman Emil Kolb said he's been asked a number of times what the differences are to be between LHINs and hospital boards.

John Magill, chair of the Mississauga - Halton LHIN, said this is part of a very important, made-in- Ontario model. The LHINs, he said, have a more overall responsibility, which he likened to "planning for the 10,000-foot level."

He added they will be working to make sure there's real co-ordination at the lower levels.

Magill added the taxpayer will be more on the minds of the hospital boards, since they will have to consider what's in the best interests of both their institution and the community. He suggested the public would be horrified if they knew of the lack of co-ordination that's existed in the system.

"It is definitely not rendering hospital boards or the boards of any other service providers as being useless," he declared.

Caledon Councillor Allan Thompson commented there are a lot of seniors in his ward, yet there seems to be a shortage of long-term care beds in the area.

"We have a massive, growing list of long-term care," he commented, adding there's a shortage of infrastructure to help deal with that. "What are you guys doing about it?"

McReynolds again referred to the aging at home initiative, since just putting people in a longterm care establishment should not be considered the first choice. He added this area has done well with allocations of long-term beds approved by previous provincial governments. He said he has a "gut feeling" that a lot of people are in long-term care homes who really don't need to be there.

Thompson maintained he wanted assurances there would be better service than what's available now. He used the "squeaky wheel" analogy, that action happens if there are enough complaints. "You almost have to get the person back into the hospital and out to get them the care they need," he observed.

McReynolds told Thompson Caledon does very well in the LHIN, when it comes to getting support services for seniors.

Thompson also commented on the volunteer system in Caledon, calling it "phenomenal, but they're maxed out!"

He also asserted his belief that the long-term care situation "is a mess."

"This is a serious issue that has not been addressed," he added, also agreeing that those who have to deal with people who are sick don't have an easy job.

Thompson was also curious if the head of the two LHINs have much communication with each other. McReynolds told him there are meetings at the provincial level twice per month at which he and Magill see each other, and they see each other on other occasions. He said it's seldom that a couple of days go by without some communication between the two LHINs.

Caledon Councillor Annette Groves was pleased with the aging at home initiative, and with the idea that residents in long-term care would have options if they really don't need to be there. She added it's a lot healthier to have seniors living in their own homes, although she thought the Region's facilities do a good job of taking care of residents.

"Our residents are quite happy in the facilities, but certainly we could use improvements," she commented.

Groves also commented on wait times in emergency rooms.

"It snowballs," she said. "It affects everything."

She commented paramedics are forced to hang around and do nothing, while personnel from other jurisdictions are called to fill in for them, and a lot of patients are in emergency rooms when they really don't have to be there. She suggested urgent care centres for things like minor injuries that can be dealt with outside an emergency room.

"It's obviously an area we've got to explore more," McReynolds replied.

Lowi-Young added aging at home and other programs to increase the number of patients being cared for in the community should help clear out hospital overflow. It will involve the public solving these problems together.

"The system is very connected," she said. "We can't just look at one part of it."

Brampton Councillor John Sprovieri expressed his appreciation for the opportunity to dialogue with LHIN representatives.

"I don't envy your role," he remarked. "You have a big challenge on your hands."

Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion commented the greatest work LHINs will do will be in terms of co-ordination.

She pointed out there are a number of procedures being performed in hospitals that could be done elsewhere, such as removing cataracts from eyes. She also commented there are a lot of people in acute care beds who really should be in chronic care. These are issues that need to be addressed.

"I think you've got a fantastic challenge, and I think it's going to save our health care," McCallion remarked.

She also said it's time to recognize two-tier health care, suggesting that a $2 charge per visit to an emergency room will clear things out. She said there are a lot of cases in which emergency rooms are used as family doctors.