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Same story, different town. The usual hospital cuts, this time in Grimsby, Ontario

More good news, this time with bed cuts proposed for West Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Grimsby.

As usual, this is funding driven, after the hospital sucked up and paid down two years of deficits with its cash reserves  (racking up a $1 million deficit in 2008-9 and $1.5 million in 2009-10).  That money was supposed to go for better facilities.    But No.

Also as usual, 'ALC' patients get the blame. And also ALSO as usual, it’s not clear where these patients will go.

It remains unclear, to this writer at least, how many beds will go.  Fourteen staff positions will be ‘affected’. 

The hospital says it will develop its plans in the coming weeks. That's something to look forward to. For more see this. – D.

dallan@cupe.ca
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  1. Doug AllanJuly 18, 2010 at 11:49 PM

    A comment from Pat Schofield of hte People's Health Coalition:

    Isn't this comical....they no longer refer to them as bed cuts or closures.....now they are reduction of beds occupied by patients. And they try to make you think, it is not necessarily permanent....if they are needed for complex or acute care again, they can put them in service again. Don't believe them.

    Go to the HNHB LHIN web site and read their Complex Care Integrated Report and you will see what
    the future plans are:
    1. Change Complex Continuing Care to Complex Care (no more continuing)
    2. New definition of Complex Care to be "time limited"
    3. After determined length of time...now 45 to 85 days....(but can easily be changed in the future to 30 to 60 days), give the patient a choice to go to a LTC home or nursing home, go home or pay a daily rate every day for your care at whatever rate the hospital decides...or die.
    4. They don't want old people clogging up hospital beds
    5. They insist they are not "reducing" acute beds....but complex beds. However in our hospitals in Port Colborne and Fort Erie these "acute" beds have just recently been designated as Complex Continuing Care.

    The HNHB LHIN chair Juanita Gledhill says people should not live in hospitals, but they also shouldn't die because there are not enough acute or active beds to accommodate people in need. This is happening in Niagara.

    Example: Patient goes to Port Colborne hospital and is transferred to Welland for blood transfusion. Patient needs to be resuscitated at Welland. It is decided patient needs cardiac resources available in St. Catharines. No beds available. Patient waits for 4 days at Welland. Eventually patient is transferred to Kitcher. By then patient has acquired pneumonia. Many complications follow. Patient is eventually transferred back to Welland. Patient dies.

    Question: There are several questions, but if the patient had received help on the first day instead of waiting 4 days before being transferred to Kitchener...would the patient have survived?

    This example of shortage of beds shows you the impact on lives and patient care. We have a lot more examples in Niagara.

    Pat Scholfield
    People's Healthcare Coalition

    ReplyDelete

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