Big step forward

Katherine Stansfield (left) with Barb Proctor briefing members of the Friends of Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital on early plans to redevelop the facility at a meeting held last year.

Plan for new integrated hospital and family health team facility ready for provincial scrutiny

Quinte Health Care is ready to take the next big step toward the development of a new hospital in Picton—a facility that proposes to bring together hospital services, the County’s Family Health Team, community care providers and other health-care professionals into a single agile and responsive health-care setting.

Those who have seen the plan believe that it represents a potential flagship model for rural and community health care in Ontario for the coming decades—a system designed from the ground up to put an array of services and capabilities in one facility—fostering seamless care for patients while harnessing a more efficient use of the technologies and skills delivered in this community.

Yet it is not at all certain this vision will be realized. Much work has yet to be done to persuade provincial bureaucrats to embark on a bold new path—particularly at a time when health-care dollars are being squeezed.

Katherine Stansfield is the chief nursing officer and vice-president of patient services at QHC. She has been leading the development of this proposal for the past couple of years. On Tuesday she provided QHC’s board with an update.

She said her working group was putting finishing touches on its proposal and plans to submit it to the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care next month.

“We are ready to take the next step toward the redevelopment of the Prince Edward Memorial site,” said Stansfield in an interview with the Times.

The proposal recommends a brand new facility on a new site—one that brings the family health team, community care providers and hospital services together in a modern, safe and efficient building. The proposal doesn’t identify the proposed site—it is not required for the ministry submission—but the municipality owns a 20-acre parcel of land near McFarland Nursing Home that it has considered for previous health-care plans. It may come under closer scrutiny if this plan moves forward.

Before arriving at this conclusion the working group had to rule out the other options. First it had to make the case that the existing building wouldn’t work. Stansfield explained that an engineering report found that the investment required to rehabilitate the structure—particularly to meet current infection control standards— would simply cost too much.

The working group also examined the option of building a new facility on the existing site. This would have meant designing a building of three or four storeys—inconsistent with the goals of a seamless flow between health-care services and out of character with the County’s rural setting.

The plan also studied the pros and cons of a fully integrated facility versus a separate yet linked hospital and family health team and community services facilities.

The working group concluded that all services should be housed in one building.

“It allows for the most integration of services,” said Stansfield, explaining the working group’s reasoning. “It facilitates real flow between Family Health Team services and hospital services as well as community services. It envisions that services such as Meals on Wheels and Alzheimer Society all co-located on-site, as well as retail space for a pharmacy.”

The model is a new one—and it must navigate a provincial planning process that prefers concepts it knows and understands. For this reason the working group, consisting of Stansfield, Dr. Greg Higgins, Wendy Parker, Dr. Iris Noland and QHCs finance chief Bill Andrews, has had to prepare a thorough and detailed proposal. It has also had to prove that this model will be meaningful decades from now.

“It is a unique model,” said Stansfield, “so we have to be very clear from a clinical services perspective—for that is what is driving the innovation— we must ensure that the model will be flexible, for it has to endure for five, 10, 15 years and beyond.”

But neither is it entirely a shot in the dark. QHC has been working with the Ministry for many months now. The Minister, Deb Matthews, has taken a personal interest in the project—recognizing the potential role this model might play in other rural communities.

Stansfield and her group met with ministry officials as recently as a week ago to answer questions and get feedback from the bureaucrats who will ultimately decide if this project proceeds.

She explains that while their participation at this stage can by no means be construed as a guarantee, the Ministry would conversely not have allowed this proposal to proceed to this stage if there was no chance of success.

“This is a model they have not seen before,” explained Stansfield. “They are not very comfortable with it yet but they are intrigued. They need to understand it clearly—both from a clinical and a cost perspective. We have answers for these questions but it is a matter of presenting it clearly and completely.

“Even though the capital branch is still working through the concept they are serious about it—and we view that as a very good sign.”

Once the proposal form is in the hands of the LHIN and Ministry officials, the County and QHC must wait for feedback. This could take weeks but more likely months. Armed with this feedback, the working group will then prepare its formal business submission.

Mayor Peter Mertens offered his continued support for the project and his appreciation to the team doing the work to bring the proposal to this stage.

“My congratulations to Katherine Stansfield and her team at QHC and the doctors in Prince Edward County and everyone who has put such an enormous amount of work into this plan and the results they’ve achieved to this point,” said Mertens. “It is a very positive development for Prince Edward County and begins to solidify our long-term needs.

“It is not an exaggeration to say a lot of eyes are watching this plan develop—because many believe it can and should be a model for many parts of Ontario.”