'New' model for care centre raises serious concerns,
MLA Fraser says
Oceanside Star
Published: Thursday, February 25, 2010
THE EDITOR:
As the MLA representing North Qualicum to Deep Bay, Whiskey Creek, Arrowsmith and formerly Qualicum Beach (2005-2009), I feel it necessary to raise serious concerns regarding the health facility proposed for the region.
I am concerned that with the Request for Proposal, the Vancouver Island Health Authority is seeking an external partner to design, build, finance, and operate a primary health care and urgent care facility for Oceanside and surrounding area.
We need to protect and expand the public health care system rather than subject it to the uncertainty and whims of the private market place. The current model proposed by VIHA and lauded by Parksville-Qualicum MLA Ron Cantelon is fraught with potential problems.
My understanding is that not only is no new money being delivered to our area for this proposed "new model" but there will be no emergency or urgent care between 10:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m., no overnight beds, no consideration for palliative care, and no firm requirements for expanded laboratory of diagnostic services.
Mr. Cantelon's vision of a "new model" amounts to a walk-in clinic and a real estate arrangement with a private company for the relocation of some existing services. This is nothing new. It is a model that is raising serious concerns in other parts of the province.
The deputy registrar of the BC College of Physician & Surgeons was quoted in the Vancouver Sun (September 2009) around a similar privately owned and operated facility: "The business model, I would suggest, perhaps doesn't work any longer... I can assure you that the college is concerned. The issue is really that these clinics are owned and operated by businessmen who then contract with physicians that actually provide the care."
There has been significant absence of meaningful community and physician consultation regarding this proposal. Indeed, VIHA has claimed repeatedly that the solutions will come from the proponent. This is wrong. The solutions need to come through the Health Authority from the community and local physicians. The people of Oceanside and area deserve a public health facility built by and for the public to meet the public needs. We deserve nothing less.
MLA Cantelon has promised a public meeting on this issue. As MLA for the larger catchment area, I will be there to ask the hard questions. I ask the public to attend and do the same.
Scott Fraser, MLA,
Alberni-Pacific Rim
© Oceanside Star 2010
The Coalition believes that the health centre should be
under public control to best serve the public interest.
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Health Care Centre in Oceanside
We Want an Oceanside Health Center - Do It Now
Revised edition 28 March 09
Background
Over the past 20 years many studies have been done about the urgent need for a Health
Centre in the Oceanside area. In 2001, a study was completed that was inclusive of consultation with the public, health care professionals and the health board of the day. The mayors, RDN, MLA and even the Premier, Gordon Campbell supported and approved the recommendation of the 2001 study paper titled, Project Study - Part A of a Capital Plan for the Oceanside Health Centre in LHA 69: Qualicum.
Since then, we have not seen a Health Centre in Oceanside even though we have a population in the Oceanside area of about 45,000 residents. As well, about 500,000 tourists stop or pass through and vacation in Oceanside annually.
A Primary Health Care Task Force was established in Oceanside consisting of the Mayors, RDN Chair, Hon. Ron Cantelon, and Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) and others. The Task Force continues to meet and there is no dispute among the participants that Oceanside is underserved and is in urgent need of a Health Centre.
The Task Force is well aware of the two new hospitals proposed for Campbell River and Courtenay/Comox and the Task Force also toured existing, and recently reconfigured, health centres in the much smaller municipalities of Chemainus and Ladysmith.
What do we need?
We support and encourage the Task Force to continue its pursuit of improved delivery of health care by accepting nothing less than the development of an Oceanside Health Centre patterned on a facility proposed in 2001 by the health authority of the day.
We see such a facility providing the following services, phased in if need be, on an appropriate property, in the following order of importance.
Urgent Care - treatment of unscheduled patients requiring care for unexpected illnesses and injuries except stroke, heart attack and major trauma.
Ambulance personnel will require top level Advanced Life Support (ALS) training to deal with heart/stroke/trauma issues.
Primary Care Program - a group of family physicians, nurses and support staff providing a wide range of care over extended hours of operation.
Ambulatory Care - an extension of primary care to include skilled practitioners in such services as heart health, pulmonary & asthma, diabetes education, foot care, women’s health issues and hypertension.
Diagnostic and Treatment - clinics for palliative care, medical daycare, endoscopy, cancer program, pre-op anaesthetic and minor procedures. Modern diagnostic radiology and on-site laboratory facilities are necessary.
Inpatient services - a total of 45 beds for care provided by family physicians, short-stay assessment, convalescence and palliative care.
We feel strongly that such a facility, rather than being a threat to the retention and recruitment of doctors and nurses could be the catalyst to reverse the downward trend in the number of medical professionals in Oceanside.
Recommendation
We believe the Task Force, armed with this information, should be strongly insisting that VIHA provide an appropriately sized facility in Oceanside that will properly serve our population. We have a population (catchment area) of over 45,000 people and we deserve the services that could be provided by a well-planned and staffed health centre.
Endorsement
This document is supported and endorsed by the following community groups representing
approximately 18,000 residents:
- Chartwell Residents’ Association
- Qualicum Beach Residents’ Association
- Eaglecrest Residents’ Association
- French Creek Residents’ Association
- North Qualicum Beach Homeowners’ Association
- Mapleguard Ratepayers’ Association (Bowser area)
- Oceanside, Owners Strata Plan No. VIS-2129
- Craig Bay Residents’ Association
What can YOU do to help?
We ask that you either send the following slogan to the Hon. Ron Cantelon
(who was Co-Chair of the Task Force) either by email or postal mail.
1. If by email, insert his email address: ron.cantelon.mla@leg.bc.ca (corrected email address)
Then insert the above slogan/message in the subject line,
Then press “Send”. Nothing more is required.
2. If by mail, send a post card with the same message written on it, sign it, and mail to:
Hon. Ron Cantelon
PO Box 877
Parksville. B.C.
V9P 2G9.
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2001 Project Study
Request for Capital to Plan and Build
OCEANSIDE HEALTH CENTRE
In LHA 69 Qualicum
Submitted by the Central Vancouver Island Health Region
June 2001
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In the last 15 years, the population of Oceanside (LHA 69: Qualicum) has grown 82% to 41,000 people. P.E.O.P.L.E. 25, the provincial database, projects 40% growth to 57,000 people over the next 15 years.
Even more significant, is the age of the age of the Oceanside population. Currently, 25% of LHA 69 population is 65 or over, as compared with the provincial figure of 13%. The rate of increase in the population over 65 is projected to lead the province over the next 15 years.
The health status indicators of this aged population are generally good and their utilization of health resources is below the provincial averages.
In 1971, when the population was only 8,500, an average driving time of 30 to 40 minutes from Parksville and Qualicum to reach services in Nanaimo, Comox or Port Alberni may have been accepted as part of rural life. However, as the communities have grown, the residents of Oceanside have been strongly voicing the need for a local facility. External reviews, strategic plans and planning studies over the last decade have echoed the need for a primary care facility. There are numerous BC communities with health care facilities providing primary care services that are much smaller than the current Oceanside population of 41,000. Lack of transportation and travel times to access existing services at the overcrowded Nanaimo Regional General Hospital are barriers to many residents of Oceanside. Services gaps and barriers will be exacerbated by continued rapid population growth and aging.
The Board of the Central Vancouver Island Health Region established a Health Advisory Committee in the area in 1997 to provide advice on local health issues. In the fall of 2000 the Oceanside Health Advisory Committee was asked to form a Steering Committee for the planning and preparation of a Capital Submission for a health facility to serve Oceanside.
Six planning principles, adopted early in the process, guided the planning of the Oceanside Health Centre. These principles are stated in the body of the submission. The plan is consistent with the Strategic Plan of the Central Vancouver Island Health Region and proposes programs and services that will be complementary to others provided in the community and those at the Nanaimo Regional Hospital.
The resulting plan calls for a Health Centre to be built on land owned by the Central Vancouver Island Health region, possibly attached to an existing community care facility. The major programs and services of the Oceanside Health Centre would include:
Multi-disciplinary primary care services.
An urgent care program
45 inpatient beds providing primary medical, observation/short term assessment and treatment, sub-acute and convalescence and palliative care.
a range of specialized ambulatory and outreach services providing wellness, education and prevention programs, as well as diagnostic and treatment programs.
Basic diagnostic, therapeutic and support services.
The space required for these programs is estimated to be 66,840 building gross square feet (6310 square metres). The capital cost for construction is estimated to be $13.8 in current dollars, using a mid-range cost per square foot of $207. $5.5 million is estimated to cover planning, design, equipment and contingency funding. The total capital funding requirement is approximately $19.3 million in current dollars.
The central Vancouver Island Health Region will require additional on-going funding to operate this facility. It is estimated that 75 additional staff will be required. When salaries, benefits, supplies and other costs are estimated an operating budget estimate of $5.5 million is reached.
The plan for the Oceanside Health Centre was presented at a public forum attended by over 250 residents in April 2001. Considerable support was voiced for the proposed facility. Concerns were raised regarding the length of time that may be taken to plan and build the facility.
Citizens call for health care centre
Parksville mayor and Oceanside Primary Health Care Task Force member Ed Mayne speaks to residents about the chances of the area getting a health care centre.
By Auren Ruvinsky - Parksville Qualicum Beach News - 12 March 09
A disparate group of about 60 people attended a public health care forum Wednesday evening at the St. Columba Church Hall put on by the Oceanside Coalition for Strong Communities.
Parksville Mayor Ed Mayne, who had to leave early for a prior commitment, spoke first about the progress of the Oceanside Primary Health Care Task Force on bringing an urgent care centre to the region.
“There is no chance of getting a hospital here or anything with beds,” Mayne stressed. “VIHA has made it clear it’s not what they want for this market.”
He said there is a process underway and while he admitted it was still early, he was worried, “we keep getting this far but then issues like this 2001 report come up which provide a wedge for people to say ‘you’re not even agreed on what you want.’”
Mayne said with local MLA Ron Cantelon in cabinet, District 69 is in a better position than ever to finally get a facility, but with the provincial election coming May 12 “the window’s going to close very quickly.”
Mayne answered questions from mostly older community members, disappointed none of the other invited politicians attended.
Participants spoke about their frustration with the lack of progress for an area of 50,000 people where studies have been done for 30 years on the need for a medical facility.
As requested by moderator John Olsen, people spoke about specific items they wanted in a local health centre while Tom Davies and Mike Jessen, representing the Oceanside Resident’s Association Federation, argued all the preliminary work had already been done for the 2001 study with a much bigger group.
After Mayne left several people argued strongly for his point that it’s better to go for what’s actually in sight rather than scrapping that for an all or nothing approach.
Others said they were offended by what they saw as the task force blackmailing the community, that the community has a right to go after what it wants, though there was no agreement on what that was except that a publicly funded medical facility is long overdue.
As the excitement level rose Davies said “people have to stop looking at what VIHA is willing to give us, it’s not about what we can get, it’s about what we deserve and we deserve everything in the 2001 report.”
In the end little agreement was reached. The Strong Communities Coalition scheduled a working meeting for 5 p.m. next Wednesday [18 March] at Trillium Lodge but received very little support from those in attendance. There was some suggestion that the new working group could work with the resident’s federation but there was no agreement made.
The resident’s federation initiative to e-mail Cantelon with the message: ‘We want an Oceanside Health Centre — Do it Now!’ was well received.
Press release
Health care needs public forum: OCSC
Text by Neil Horner - Parksville Qualicum Beach News
Published: February 09, 2009
Politicians have promised more than once to fix the health careproblems of Oceanside
and Vancouver Island Health Authority bureaucrats have fiddled with the system to patch it up,
says John Olsen.
That’s why, said the spokesperson for the Oceanside Coalition for Strong Communities, his group
is organizing a community forum to call on citizens to act to bring a comprehensive health care program
to the Oceanside area.
With a rapidly growing and aging population of well over 40,000 people, Olsen said the area is
grossly under-served by VIHA and has long been promised improvements.
“With the provincial election at hand, it is time we made our needs known,” he said.
Most recently, a self-appointed primary health care task force was formed by municipal leaders,
physicians, aboriginal representatives and VIHA people. Last spring the Taskforce issued a
report dealing with improvements to the after hours clinic, recruitment of new doctors,
medical coverage of new residential care facilities and an experimental collaboration
for chronic disease management.
“They specifically said we should not construct what they deemed costly capital projects, even
if that is exactly what is needed,” Olsen said. “As valuable as the task force’s limited improvements
are, they most certainly do not offer a vision of what a community-led integrated,
comprehensive community health care initiative could achieve.”
While the task force consulted with a handful of local organizations, Olsen said, they did not attempt
to hold a public meeting to get the views of the community. That, he added, is where his group comes in.
“This forum will fill that gap and make a significant contribution to an ongoing campaign to give
Oceanside the community health care it deserves and needs, whatever that takes,” he said.
“We are inviting any and all citizens to come and share their vision of what our healthcare system
should look like.
The event [was held] 7 p.m. on March 11 at St. Columba Church in French Creek.
news@pqbnews.com
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