The Mayor of Minden Hills Township claims no prior consultation was held as the emergency department in Minden will close June 1 and shift services to the hospital in Haliburton.
In a statement issued Friday, Mayor Bob Carter calls the decision by the Haliburton Highlands Health Services (HHHS) board of directors an “ill-advised, ill-timed and ill-planned decision.”
HHHS president CEO Carolyn Plummer and board chair David O’Brien jointly announced Wednesday that all emergency and in-patient services at the Minden site would close and shift to Haliburton, about 30 kilometres northeast.
Carter says the decision “compromises” the health and welfare of residents in the area. He said council was informed of the decision on Wednesday night — a decision that he says will “grievously” harm the township and Haliburton County.
“There was absolutely no prior consultation with County or Township staff or elected officials,” he said on his Facebook page. “We mayors and councillors are elected to represent you. Part of our mandate is to ensure community well-being. Yet, this critical issue was decided by a virtually unelected board acting on its own and shrouded by secrecy.”
Global News Peterborough requested followup comment on Carter’s claims. In a statement on Friday, Plummer says HHHS engaged with local elected officials “many times” over the past 18 months as they struggled to deal with “serious staffing shortages.”
“We have been open about those challenges with each of the four townships in Haliburton County, and recently consulted local elected officials through a robust strategic planning process,” said Plummer. “This decision was made by the HHHS board of directors, supported by the executive leadership team, based on the local impacts of the on-going global health human resources crisis.”
Deputy Mayor Lisa Schell echoed Carter’s sentiment, calling the closure “shortsighted and “difficult to understand.”
“Minden is listed as one of the fastest growing communities in the country,” she stated on her Facebook page. “This will cause health and economic harm and is absolutely shameful.
The community has had ZERO opportunity to engage with the board before this decision was made. I am speechless.”
Plummer says the decision was made to run a more “sustainable operation” in the long term as it deals with current nursing shortages and “unbelievable pressure” on existing staff. No job losses are anticipated and the merger is expected to bolster health services and reduce the need for patient transfers.
“This was an operational decision that was informed by the experiences and unbelievable pressure on our staff team, as well as the broad feedback we’ve recently received from local officials and the community about their healthcare needs,” Plummer said. “It will mean that HHHS can better ensure its long-term sustainability, so that it can continue to provide the high-quality patient care that all of Haliburton County depends on.
“It also means we can do more to support our staff and physician,” she added. “The pressure to keep two emergency departments open, on top of the personal and professional sacrifices it has demanded, has been unbelievable. We have to support our staff, so they can keep protecting and caring for our patients.”
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MPP Laurie Scott says the government respects the hospital’s jurisdiction in managing their own day-to-day operations and allocating resources. Scott says government will assist to ensure a “seamless transition” and that she “appreciates that HHHS and its Board approached this decision in a thoughtful manner with the best interest of their community and staff.”
“The Ministry of Health acknowledges the staffing shortages across the province and in response has launched the largest health care recruitment strategy in the history of Ontario,” she stated in an email to Global News. “We have invested $30 million in the ‘Your Health’ plan to expand family health teams, added 3,500 hospital beds across Ontario for acute, post-acute and critical care beds. The result of this investment led to over 12,000 nurses being registered this year alone, and in fall of last year, over 109,000 students entered the nursing field.”
According to The Highlander newspaper, in December 2022, Plummer stated during a board meeting that staff shortages were the top challenge with approximately $290,000 spent monthly on agency nurses just to maintain operations.
During the annual general meeting in June 2022, Plummer reported Minden’s emergency department had 12,768 visits compared with 9,766 for Haliburton over the past year, as reported by The Minden Times. The combined 22,0534 ER visits were 4,500 more than 2021’s total, she said.
Plummer tells Global News that the decision to consolidate the emergency service was not made based on patient volumes.
“Rather, the only in-patient (acute care) beds in Haliburton County are currently located at the Haliburton site, and HHHS cannot separate the emergency department from those beds,” Plummer said. “The Minden site is not suitable for in-patient beds. It would require millions of dollars, as well as a multi-year approval and renovation process to try to create an in-patient space in Minden, and even then, there would be fewer beds than what is currently available at the Haliburton site.”
O’Brien says the “evidence-based decision” to close the Minden site was made in the best interest of the community.
“Today is an important day for HHHS, because it means that we will continue to be able to provide the high-quality health services that Haliburton County residents and visitors count on,” he said.
Increased costs
Carter says the Minden closure will also impact paramedics and their dispatching model with more trips required to make the 25-kilometre trip north to the Haliburton site.
He also noted 60 residents of Hyland Crest long-term care will now have to travel by ambulance for routine care.
“This will increase the workload on our paramedics and change their dispatching model,” he said. “This will increase the cost to the County. A further result will be to increase the demand on our volunteer fire departments who will need to respond to additional medical calls because paramedics are unavailable. This will increase costs in the municipality.”
Carter is asking residents to join council in the fight against the decision — or at least demand that the closure be deferred until later this year since June sees thousands of cottagers and tourists flock to the area.
However, the hospital board says it will be launching “robust” communication efforts to inform permanent and seasonal residents of the impending change.
“This will include ample signage at the Minden site, as well as changes to highway signage throughout the County,” the board stated.
Scott says she will continue to support the goals of HHHS including the application for a CT Scanner and other diagnostic imaging tools to help strengthen the ER department and the hospital.
Minden council met Thursday to discuss the closure and Carter says it is united to demand that changes be made.
“It is personal. All of us know at least one person who is walking around our neighbourhoods because of the dedicated and available staff in the Minden emergency department,” he said. “Minden council will leave no stone unturned to alter this ill-advised, ill-timed and ill-planned decision.”
A Facebook group called Save Minden Ontario Emergency Room has been created to encourage residents to share concerns, stories and photos about what the Minden hospital means to the community.
More to come.