Health-care concerns

Hospitals across Ontario are less than two months from the start of the next fiscal year, yet they have no idea how much money they’ll have to spend.

It’s one of many concerns Ontario Hospital Association president Tom Closson discussed on Thursday with hospital officials from around the region.  Closson also spoke about labour spats with the province, which encouraged hospitals to negotiate zero per cent wage increases with staff, a move that did not sit well with union officials.

And finally the author of a 2005 report on the integration of services in Northwestern Ontario said health care in regional hospitals will continue to suffer until alternative levels of care solutions are put in place.

Closson said it’s difficult for hospital administrators, who by law aren’t allowed to run a deficit, to effectively plan the 2011-12 fiscal year and know what services they will and won’t be able to offer, without a proper budget in place.

Guessing is out of the question, he said.
 
“Last year they didn’t tell us several months into the year what hospitals would be receiving, and it looks like the same thing is going to happen this year. So we would like them to identify stable funding targets for hospitals over the next few years so we can actually plan around it,” Closson said.

The overloaded system is of particular concern to Northwestern Ontarians. Hospitals, especially Thunder Bay Regional have a high percentage of alternative care patients, people who he said would be better cared for in the community.

“It’s not good care for them once they’ve finished their acute care treatment to stay in a hospital. Obviously it’s a lot more expensive for the system, so we’re really pushing the government to build up community services, put money into home care, put money into assisted living arrangements and long-term care homes,” Closson said.

Presently there are about 5,000 people province-wide who are in hospital who don’t need to be there,” he added.

“That’s 17 per cent of all people in hospital. So it’s a serious problem. It’s been about the same for the last three years and everybody’s been working hard to try to address it, but so far it’s just like you’re treading water. We haven’t really seen any major drop in the numbers.”

Dick Mannisto, board chairman of the Geraldton District Hospital said the pressure is being felt from one end of the North to the other.

Geraldton is no difference, with the hospital nearing capacity.

“With only having 23 acute-care beds, we’ve got five of them with alternate levels of care patients in them. So it does impact on us. And it impacts on our doctors and our ability to let the other patients come into the hospital,” Mannisto said.

The solution lies in other levels of service being provided by the province, he said.

“People like to stay at home. If they can’t stay at home then they’re going to have to stay in some (form of) community housing with supports,” Mannisto said.