Our concerns are as follows:
Time. With a medical emergency (accident, heart attack, stroke), receiving timely medical intervention is crucial. Minutes count. Ours is a rural location, not city streets. To add more response time could prove fatal in many cases.
Ambulance usage. The time and cost would increase. Many may choose to try to drive themselves to the hospital for fear of the time or cost of ambulance services. Although this choice can be dangerous, it is understandable when people are forced to make decisions due to fear, or socioeconomic factors.
Medical staff. Attracting competent and forward-thinking medical staff to Muskoka seems to be an ongoing struggle. Without a hospital facility and modern equipment, why would medical professionals choose Huntsville to live and work? Their choices will have a domino effect, impacting where families and businesses choose to reside or operate. This in turn will affect employment opportunities, the educational system, funding, infrastructure, programming, and the numerous other services that may or may not continue.
Continuity of care. For patients who must regularly get treatment (i.e., dialysis), having to travel a greater distance three times a week no matter the weather would cause increased stress – something they do not need! Not to mention the financial burden, wear and tear on vehicles for those lucky enough to have their own transportation, and time.
In larger facilities, there is also the issue of staff continuity. Patients who regularly go to the hospital because of their specific medical conditions rely on the staff. When the staff are always changing, they never really get to foster a rapport with their patients in order to best assist them. The bond of security and care suffers.
Patient support. As most hospitals now run a 24/7 visitation schedule, hospitals are depending on family and friends to take on some of the patient care. For some people, this may not be a burden, but if you are a senior or someone who does not drive or own a vehicle or have the financial resources to get to another hospital, it could create insurmountable issues. It would be heartbreaking if you were unable to be with your loved one in such a difficult time. Studies repeatedly bear out that social connection from loved ones improves patients’ health and shortens recovery periods.
New hospitals and huge hospitals. Although new, massive hospitals may look lovely and boost an architect’s reputation, they are not always practical. For example, the new Sault Ste. Marie hospital is enormous and therefore has huge parking lots, and the overflow lots are far from the main doors. For those patients who are not delivered to the front door, what a journey they must undertake! The cost of parking is also prohibitive. Because of the size of the building, even patients who are mobile and otherwise able can not always make it in a safe and timely manner to their treatment area, and finding a wheelchair is difficult. The entrance lobby is large but with few seating areas and most people do not stay there. Large hospitals can feel cold and impersonal.
These are but a few thoughts we hope will be consider before decisions are made. We, the members of the Huntsville Women’s Group, would urge the decision makers to carefully consider the very real needs of the people of Huntsville, both immediately and with attention to our town’s future. We do not exaggerate to say that future may become rather tenuous without a local hospital.
Huntsville Women’s Group:
Kathleen May, Carol Ferris, Tanis Wilson, Pat Sheedy, Cathy Devigneux, Sandra Smith, Robin Steele, Jocelyn Luce, Joy Stott, Helen Prager, Gerri Lee Nunn, Linda Wilson, June Tebby, Donna Parlee, Katherine Kristiansen, Debbie Cybulcki, and Margo Cybulcki
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