That’s one of the intentions under reforms to improve rural services within the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network.
Rural residents want a good level of health care services, which new reforms are seeking to ensure, chief executive Sandra Hanmer said Monday.
That desire came through in recent public meetings in rural areas covered by the network.
“We heard loud and clear that access to services was important — and access to services as close to home as possible,” she said.
“(We also heard) concern that something was going to be taken away without something coming in its place,” Hanmer continued, adding that isn’t the thrust of the reforms.
“There’s great commitment to creating strong, sustainable, healthy rural communities with health care a part of that continuum.”
Rural health care reforms were of interest to then-health minister David Caplan when he toured the region in October. His briefing notes, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, stated that since August, 2005, Queen’s Park created 150 family health teams as part of efforts to improve font-line health care services.
Further, the notes reminded Caplan Queen’s Park intends to boost those with 50 more physician-based teams by 2011/’12, though these would target rural and underserviced communities.
Hanmer would be pleased to have more.
“Of the nine we have now, four are in rural communities,” she said, referring to Centre Wellington, East Wellington, Mapleton and North Wellington. She’s already getting new expressions of interests from physician groups to create more area teams.
“We could have some focused in our rural communities,” Hanmer said.
The body, which has an annual budget of $858 million and serves an area of 750,000 residents, began studying rural reforms more than a year ago. The area boasts 10 hospitals, a community care access centre, 31 support services, 22 mental health and addictions centres, 35 long-term care homes and four community health centres.
The body is overseeing plenty of changes. In addition to rural reform, it’s improving aging-at-home resources, adding long-term care beds, as well as putting in place youth addiction treatments and adding rural mental health beds.
Rural health reform has required defining key health care services and an overall vision, guided by its rural health working group. Over the past year, the body has held public information meetings in Rockwood, Elora, Elmira, Harriston, Erin and Ayr, as well as other sites. It’s also met with physicians in Fergus, Mt. Forest and Listowel.
It’s now implementing a nine-point plan in various stages, with components ensuring any needed changes come in a timely fashion. It offers rural residents comprehensive primary health care, community supports and home-based care, hospital-based acute and emergency care, as well as integrated rural health care networks.
There’s a community health care survey to be completed shortly in the Southgate community north of Mount Forest, Hanmer said. Other rural work in the region includes a review of community support services, particularly those for senior citizens. The community care access centre is also examining its rural service delivery model.
Further, rural hospitals are part of regular discussions so they follow best practises and on-call procedures giving family physicians the support and advice they need in emergencies.
One of the goals, Hanmer added, is greater integration of rural services, including co-operation between hospitals like Groves Memorial Community in Fergus and rural service providers.
And, lastly, to help guide all this a rural health network has been created, which is expecting its first meeting in June.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Vik Kirsch
Quelle/Source: Guelph Mercury, 26.04.2010
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