The recent letter to the editor from Jane Havens criticizing one of our passionate and informed community members, Doug Babbitt, is a further reflection of the arrogance and lack of understanding by the Chair of the Public General Hospital.
While Jane calls for logic, reason and facts in the discussion about the future of SDH she is in fact the one who voted to cut off any debate or discussion with the SDH Board on this very topic. Come on Jane you cannot have it both ways.
Jane – you want facts and logic well here is a tidbit for you as a start:
1. It was the other two Boards that have refused to meet with the SDH Board to discuss the facts with the SDH Board. If you are so concerned about the health care conversation taking place then do your job and get back to the table and meet with our properly elected and community supported SDH Board (a claim that the other two Boards cannot make).
2. The fine staff, nurses and doctors who actually operate our SDH ER have not been properly consulted with, listened to and are afraid to publicly speak out – I know because I have been listening to them just like you should be.
3. There are three studies that I have reviewed and all three have concluded that there is a positive correlation between mortality and EMS transport time. In general for the most serious cases every additional 10 km that it takes EMS to get you to a doctor increases mortality by 1%. Not to mention several times every winter the roads to Chatham are completely shut down. I know this because I work in Chatham. Which patients would you care to designate for increased mortality- those from Wallaceburg? Walpole Island? North Kent? Do you have any studies showing no correlation between transport time and mortality?
4. If the SDH ER is closed it will be impossible for the CKHA to meet the CTAS 1 and CTAS 2 (the most serious cases) guidelines for the time it should take to see a doctor.
5. From 2010 – 11 to 2014-15 the SDH ER has handled in total over 90,000 emergency cases (of all types) which represents about 30% of all of the emergency cases (also all types) that the CKHA deals with. An amount that cannot be handled by the Chatham hospital or our current EMS. What about those in our community who have mobility issues. These numbers were supplied by the CKHA by the way.
6. Nowhere in your comments have you talked about the increased costs for ambulance services at $1.0 million per each additional ambulance per year that would be required and downloaded to CK taxpayers (which effectively wipes out your cost savings).
7. In the recent report on the Chatham Kent Fire and Emergency Services our present ambulance and EMS service is under stress to meet the ever growing demand for EMS. Code 0 calls where there is only 0 to 3 ambulances covering all of CK are going up. This decreases in ambulance coverage happens on average 50 to 70 times every month for approx. 30 minutes on average each time. Hospital off load delays in Chatham (where an ambulance arrives but there is no bed for the patient) continue to be an issue. Our population is aging and about 60% of all EMS calls are for citizens that are 61 and older. A demographic that will continue to grow and continue to challenge our EMS service.
8. The Emergency Access Centre (doctor less and not 24 hour coverage) that was offered to our community to replace a doctor and nurse staffed 24 hour SDH ER is, in my opinion, a complete joke unworthy of any serious consideration. A system that has failed elsewhere.
9. Finally, I would suggest a geography lesson so you can understand the travel distances between the SDH catchment area and the other locations you mentioned. Sorry, not the same.
Jane – you asked for facts and logic – would you like some more as I have a lot more. If only you and the two Chatham Hospital Boards would be professional and meet with the SDH Board, as per the requirement under the Alliance Agreement, they could discuss all of the facts above and much more with you.
Thank you to Doug for sharing his thoughts, feelings and knowledge. This is more than Jane and others have done to date.
It is interesting that Jane can find time to write letters criticizing fine people like Doug Babbitt and Jim Blake but she cannot find time to do her Board duties and meet with the SDH Board.
Jeff Wesley
Councillor – Wallaceburg, Past Chair – SDH Board, Past Chair – SOS
Spot on Jeff!!!
bottom line I use this Hospital they are EXCELLENT. The building is in dis-repair from lack of MANAGEMENT or management intention.
Any healthcare provider who has worked at SDH will tell you it is not equipped itself to handle a true CTAS 1. Yes in a perfect world you would upgrade SDH and then we would all go back to our mansions and never have to work ever again… I don’t know how you can act surprised that nobody wants to negotiate with the SDH Board when they aren’t realistic in their goals. Unfortunately cuts have to be made and for the good of Chatham-Kent it only makes sense to centralize resources so as to best serve the entirety of Chatham-Kent. Over 50% of SDH visitors are CTAS 4. Ask any Wallaceburg resident and they will tell you that the SDH ED is a glorified walk-in clinic.
Hopefully you never have to use the ER in Wallaceburg then if you think its only a glorified walk in clinic. I’m sure lots of people who have had their lives saved there would disagree with you. Do you even live in Wallaceburg?
As a community we need to be realistic and focused on the needs of ALL residents. This Emergency Access hub seems like an innovative way to manage day to day health care needs. Rather than debating what Wallaceburg ‘needs’ can we talk about what Ridgetown needs? Or what about Tilbury? Can we all get one of these hubs? Emergency Departments are for emergencies, not CTAS 5 and 4’s.
I believe the article was referring to Wallaceburg not Ridgetown or Tilbury. I’m sure they would like a facility as well but good luck with that happening with the CKHA attitude towards anything outside of Chatham.