Big capital projects are not the answer
Hospital consolidations usually result in an inefficient use of resources
Regarding the new kids’ hospital approved by LHIN:
The Spectator and the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) seem to want us to forget that, less than 10 years ago, they were the cheerleaders for HHS’ “Access to the Best Care” plan (ABC), which transformed McMaster University Medical Centre (MUMC) from a general hospital, within which was sited a dedicated pediatric hospital, into a children-only hospital. At great expense ($60 million, wasn’t it?), in spite of lack of evidence, and vilifying as ‘anti-kid’ all those who presented rationales as to why this was a flawed decision, ABC was implemented. Not all children’s services ever moved there and much adult day surgery was centred at “Mac Kids” to keep the facility viable. As predicted, it proved disproportionately expensive to supplement the pediatric staff with extra specialists on site and on call to provide the level of care needed to ensure the safety of the mothers in high-risk births.
“Our Healthy Future Plan” (OHFP) is a de facto acknowledgment of the expensive ABC fiasco. The change would see “Mac Kids” abandoned and a new Women’s and Children’s hospital created at the Hamilton General Hospital campus on Barton Street. But, with traffic in the core becoming increasingly congested and LRT construction about to get underway, timely ambulance access to Hamilton hospitals will be even more of a concern than at present once the plan is implemented.
There always seem to be many millions of dollars for huge capital projects, but few to provide the staff and services contained therein. It is not the absence of physical space, but the shortage of funded hospital beds, the lack of long-term care beds, and ambulance underfunding that the health system is most lacking. This won’t be solved by replacing one hospital with another or creating mega-campuses. While I empathize with health care organizations trying to cope with limited resources, rearranging the deck chairs on the HHS Titanic won’t keep it from sinking.
Hospital consolidations usually mean that many patients have to travel further for care, which will happen when MUMC is vacated under OHFP. West Lincoln Memorial Hospital (WLMH) will be expected to service outpatients from West Niagara to Flamborough. How will Hamilton’s “Code Red” population travel to WLMH in Grimsby? “Day surgery,” one should be aware, does not necessarily imply a simple, nontraumatic procedure. Many of us have family or friends who had a mastectomy in the morning and were sent home in the afternoon.
As with ABC, the likely impact on Joseph Brant Hospital (JBH) in Burlington seems to have been ignored in the LHIN decision. The article did not mention whether St. Joseph’s Hospital and JBH will have funding to expand their day surgeries to take the patients from the west who will likely choose these facilities over WLMH. Surely four facilities — in the east, in the core, in the west, and on the Mountain — are needed to provide outpatient surgeries.
Visions of politicians and hospital CEOs ribbon-cutting at a new facility should not cloud practical decisionmaking. Restoring “Mac Kids” to general hospital status would, like OHFP, keep women and children together in a full-service hospital. It would also provide services in the west and allow quick access by ambulances via Highway 403. Synergy with McMaster University’s Medical School would be an added benefit.
Residents found out quickly that their concerns about ABC fell on deaf ears, which may be why we have heard so few community concerns about the latest costly HHS reorganization.