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Sudbury: Some recognition that health care rationing requires a range of solutions

Today, the provincial government announced $6.3 million to care for 'alternative level of care'  (ALC) patients at the Memorial site of the Sudbury Regional Hospital, at least for one more year.  The government characterizes this investment in 60 hospital beds as a way "to make it easier for patients to transition from hospital back home."   The hospital says the "surge capacity beds" will offer post-acute patients "the assistive care services they require before returning home safely." 


The government sees the beds as one part of a larger set of strategies and indeed increasing community and  hospital capacities is required to reduce the health care rationing reflected in hospital overloads, wait lists, cancelled surgeries, and ALC patients.


Sharon Richer, OCHU Area 6 vice-president calls this initiative ‘one small step forward.’
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  1. AnonymousJune 24, 2011 at 4:02 PM

    I bet, if you check it out, you will find in the past a large number of hospital beds have been cut (maybe more than 60). That has created problems and bad publicity. Now they want to temporarily restore those beds, likely until after the election. Note they call them surge beds. When the election is over and the pressure is off, I bet they will once again close the surge beds. It's all about meeting the quota and the budget the government has set for them.

    Pat

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