Grimsby hospital to lose surgical facilities
Obstetrics being moved to Hamilton for about 27 months as a result of poor building standards at West Lincoln Memorial
West Lincoln Memorial Hospital will be without its surgical — and by extension obstetrics — facilities for about 27 months.
That’s the best-case scenario, pending approval of $8.6 million in provincial funding to bring the department up to Accreditation Canada standards.
Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS), which runs the Grimsby hospital, informed staff on Monday that it has applied for funding to upgrade the surgical department. They say the upgrades are necessary to keep the department up to standards and allow it to remain open. If the funding is approved, both surgical and obstetrics services will be moved off site for an estimated 27 months.
“It’s very complex remedial work in a very old building,” said Dr. Wes Stephen, chief operating officer and executive vice-president, clinical operations at HHS.
Earlier this year HHS moved endoscopy services out of Grimsby after learning of the facility upgrades required to meet Accreditation Canada standards. When that happened officials brought in a consultant to determine further issues.
Stephen said obstetrics and surgical departments are interdependent, and moving surgical off site means moving obstetrics as well. A memo to staff said it is not yet known when that
would be required and those details are being worked out.
The news comes as a blow to a community that had renewed hope a new hospital for west Niagara. At a meeting of the Niagara Health Coalition last week, speakers expressed optimism that the new Ontario PC government could mean the long-awaited hospital rebuild could be in the relatively near future.
Aaron Levo, vice-president, communications and public affairs for HHS, said efforts to rebuild WLMH and the work needed in the surgical department are two separate issues.
“HHS has committed to a longterm plan,” he said.
That plan includes a rebuilt WLMH, which is currently in the second of a five-stage planning process. But even if a funding announcement for a new hospital came tomorrow, he said it’d still be five or more years before a new hospital is completed.
Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff, who has called the hospital his No. 1 priority, said he’s “working with the minister of health (Christine Elliott) to make sure these full services are maintained and that the health care residents in Niagara West deserve is held to the highest standard.”
Sue Hotte, chair of the Niagara Health Coalition, called the news “totally unacceptable” and said the decision “falls right on the head of Hamilton Health Sciences CEO Rob MacIsaac.”
“My concern is that once a health system takes services away … it’s very difficult to get them back,” she said.
Stephen said plans are to move staff with the services with no expectations of any job losses.
The memo to staff also said HHS plans to meet current procedural volumes with no service reductions and that the emergency department, imaging, in-patient beds and clinics would continue to function throughout.
“To our knowledge at this time, they are not impacted by this remedial work,” the memo reads.
Another $7-million infrastructure project is also moving toward approval, Stephen said. That work includes upgrades to pipes and air handling. Most of the required approvals have been granted.