A new integrated health centre here has received the go-ahead from the provincial government, which also announced it will provide funds to increase local access to physiotherapy care.
Provincial, community and health care officials made the twin announcements on July 18 at the Palmerston and District Hospital (PDH), where the new Minto Rural Health Centre (MRHC) will be located.
The MRHC, an 11,000 square foot medical arts building, will house a number of community partners in the delivery of health services to area residents.
These include the Minto-Mapleton Family Health Team, Canadian Mental Health Association – Waterloo Wellington District, and Waterloo Wellington Community Care Access Centre, along with a number of primary care physicians.
Additional community services can be added, notes a press release from North Wellington Health Care (NWHC), which operates hospitals in Palmerston and Mount Forest.
NWHC president and CEO Jerome Quenneville said he was “very pleased,” the corporation has been “cleared to proceed to tender” on the clinic project.
Guelph MPP Liz Sandals, standing in for health minister Deb Matthews at the announcement, said studies of rural and northern health care models show the planned facility fits the community’s needs perfectly.
“What’s really important and what came out very strong about development projects for health care is that what’s really critical for small municipalities is that you need a hub for a number of primary health care services to come together – and that’s exactly what this is,” said Sandals.
She also noted the new facility should help with local physician recruitment efforts.
“Today’s graduates from medical schools want to work in a team. They don’t want to have a single-person practice. That’s how they have learned, in a team environment,” she pointed out.
Palmerston physician Dr. Christopher Cressey agreed the clinic will help attract primary care providers.
“It’s going to be great to be able to tell prospective new doctors we’ve got a place for you,” said Cressey.
“We’ve had to turn away new doctors and residents over the past year and that was just wrong.”
Cressey said it’s been all but impossible to recruit physicians with only the concept of a clinic in place.
“I can’t sell a picture on the wall, but I can certainly sell a hole in the ground. Within a year we’ll be recruiting new doctors to this place,” he said.
Former NWHC board chair David Craig, who co-chaired the clinic project, said access to local health care is integral to community development efforts.
“The value that it adds to the community is just tremendous,” he told the Advertiser.
Craig said the project is expected to cost in the neighbourhood of $2.5 million, none of which will come from new provincial funding.
The PDH Foundation has committed $1 million to the project and Craig said some funds will also come from NWHC reserves.
The foundation portion will come from gifts and bequests from Palmerston residents, said foundation president Luanne Ward.
The project represents a departure from the foundation’s usual mandate, of funding new equipment for the hospital and the decision to provide financial support required considerable discussion, said Ward.
“The Minto Rural Health Centre Stands as a testament to a community which had the courage to have a different conversation,” she stated.
Under a plan in place since 2012, the Town of Minto will take out a $1 million debenture to provide the $1 million, which the foundation will repay. The funds will be borrowed through the County of Wellington, “to take advantage of their Triple-A credit rating,” Minto Mayor George Bridge told the Advertiser.
“It should be a straight flow-through, with no net cost to the taxpayers,” added Minto treasurer Gordon Duff.
Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece acknowledged the creativity of project proponents in arranging financing.
“Whenever a community comes together to propose something so innovative and something so necessary, and especially when it comes at no additional cost to the taxpayer, the government should run – not walk – to do everything it can to support them,” said Pettapiece.
Also announced last Friday was $31,200 in annual provincial funding to NWHC to provide outpatient-based physiotherapy services. This new funding is expected to provide access to physiotherapy for approximately 100 residents each year.
Sandals said the services, while based at the hospital, will be provided on an outpatient basis.
“As a result of these two projects, people in north Wellington will have better access to physiotherapy and other community-based health care services closer to home,” she said.
Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) chair Joan Fisk said, “This is great News for residents in Palmerston and beyond. Not only will they have access to an innovative integrated health facility that brings rural health care providers together, but also access to outpatient physiotherapy care, close to home.”
NWHC board chair Tom Sullivan added, “Both of these initiatives enhance coordination in the delivery of an integrated care model that allows our patients to receive quality care, close to home. A special thank you goes to the Minto Rural Health Centre Committee and Palmerston Hospital Foundation for making this concept become a reality.”
Sullivan also thanked the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the local LHIN and the Town of Minto for their contributions.
