Councillors here are supporting Lambton County’s efforts to have moratorium on major health care restructuring.
Minto’s resolution noted the Health and Long Term Care Minister recently appointed a Small and Rural and Northern Health Care panel to review and coordinate access to health care in those areas.
As a result, Lambton councillors are seeking a moratorium on restructuring as imposed by Local Health Integration Networks until a province-wide review can be done.
Deputy-mayor Judy Dirksen said, “I believe there is a lot of fear in the rural areas.”
She attributed that to not only concerns about reductions, but very small increases in health care dollars through the LHIN, when costs to provide services keep going up.
“There are requirements and expenses … some, because of SARS in the past, and now with H1N1. It’s a service industry, so there is a large personnel involved in hospitals. Those salaries keep increasing.”
Dirksen said the increase received as a result of the LHIN “is usually not enough.”
Mayor David Anderson said on Dec. 2, the Waterloo-Wellington LHIN rural health working group is holding a public meeting at the Harriston community centre at 7pm.
Though the timeslot is usually when the municipality holds its council meeting, council moved its meeting to 5pm so councillors can attend the other meeting too.
“I urge everyone to attend,” Anderson said.
