Renfrew County Delegates are in Ottawa today hoping to bend the province’s ear on Healthcare.
County Warden Deb Robinson and Chair of the Provincial Moderization Ad Hoc Committee chair Michael Donohue will be amongst those attending. The committee was formed to address the drive by the province to update services and end hallway medicine in Ontario.
The committee says that the county is deeply invested in long term care and social services, and says it should have a say over what delivery models social services would follow. The committee was formed to address the push by the province to end hallway medicine and to recommend changes. Recommendations include support for municipalities that chose to subsidise long term care. They also call for the establishment of community para-medicine programs across Ontario to reduce pressures on emergency rooms. Also recommended is that Renfrew County Paramedic methods and structure is replicated across Ontario as a best-in-class model. The paper also recommends putting the savings these plans would yield back into public health programs.
A position paper on the county’s stance was passed at a county council meeting last week. However, the Renfrew County District Health Unit did not sign onto the position paper. The Unit’s Board says it was not consulted on the paper. A recommendation offers to merge public health Ontario with Ontario Health in order to create a more efficient and streamlined agency.