COMMUNITY HEALTH
Please watch this site for on-going reports and information on efforts to improve Primary Healthcare delivery in Innisfil, specifically Sandycove and North Innisfil Areas. If you have questions or concerns please e-mail us at info@scahomeowners.com
The Innisfil Community Health Committee was formed in August 2011 as a direct result of the closure of the Barrie Community Health Centre (BCHC) offices located in the Sandycove Plaza on Lockhart Rd. The Committee is chaired by Councillor Maria Baier. Representing the Sandycove Acres community on the committee are Rod Rice, Pat Dryden and Dave Cooper. Mayor Barb Baguley is an active member of the Committee.
The NORTH INNISFIL HEALTH SERVICES (NIHS) advisory group was originally created in 1997 and was instrumental in bringing the BCHC to Sandycove. The NIHS is chaired by Gord Wauchope and includes Sandycove Acres Ltd. Rod Rice and the Sandycove Home Owners Association Dave Cooper along with Sandycove Acres residents Pat Dryden and Eric Fellows. Sandycove Pharmacy Larry Ho, Innisfil District Association (IDA) Don Avery and Mary Jane Brinkos and the Alcona Business Association (ABA) are also represented and fully supportive of this effort,
The following reports on activity since the closure of the BCHC offices in June 2011.
Status Reports & article of interest
August 2011 – Newsletter Summary
Background (includes letter from BCHC)
February 2012 status report – Both the Innisfil Community Health Committee and the NIHS have had considerable activity over the past month.
INNISFIL COMMUNITY HEALTH COMMITTEE: A lot has been happening with our involvement with this Town Committee. Already we have representatives from the York University School of Nursing that are visiting all areas of Innisfil to develop a needs assessment to be used later as proposals and funding requests are made to the Provincial Ministry of Health. A meeting with Julia Munroe, Ontario MPP for this riding is scheduled to enlist her support on acquiring needed healthcare services.
ATTENTION EVERYONE in Sandycove Acres and INNISFIL – as part of the Healthcare Needs Assessment we ask for your cooperation when approached by the Nursing School representatives as they would like to speak to as many people as possible to answer questions about the healthcare delivery capabilities of our community. They will be attending a number of events and will approach you to answer some of their questions. It is important that we, Sandycove residents, provide information into this process to promote some better primary healthcare for residents of Sandycove Acres.
February 3rd also saw 30 Family Practice Medical Residents from the University of Toronto medical training program visit Innisfil for a day of lectures and “hands on” experience with rural emergencies. The pictures show the students at the Town Hall "lecture" and then down at Innisfuil Beach Park with the Emergency personnel. Click on image for a larger view.
For a full report check the following links to various newspaper articles written about this very important event which hopefully will see some doctors locate in Innisfil. These are articles from local media sources that were present for the afternoon sessions at the Park
http://www.simcoe.com/community/innisfil/article/1293668
http://www.innisfilscope.com/news/2012-02-01/Front_Page/Medical_residents_tour_the_town.html
http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3462580
CTV Barrie http://www.ctvbarrie.ca/category/news/ Go to Friday February 3rd New Broadcast and then forward to 7:41 minutes
There was also a job fair hosted by Royal Victoria Hospital on February 1st where the Committee had representation and met some very interested medical residents in a General Practitioners training program through RVH.
NORTH INNISFIL HEALTH SERVICES (NIHS): This group has reformed following the closure of the Clinic located in the Sandycove Plaza. This initiative is to replace that which was taken from us and has the full support of Sandycove Acres Ltd., Sandycove Home Owners Association, Innisfil District Association and the Alcona Business Association.
If you have any questions or comments about the healthcare initiatives, or would like to offer your assistance, please contact Dave Cooper at dcooper000@sympatico.ca
December 2011 status report - The Health Committee is progressing quickly toward letting everyone know we need health care providers. A number of initiatives have started with the announcement recently of Town Council approving funds to finance a study to be conducted by the York University School of Nursing which will determine Innisfil needs and current status of health care in Innisfil. This effectively is an update of a 10 year old report on how well the community is serviced.
The Committee is now a recognized Town of Innisfil Committee with its own web page on the Town web site. Please check it by clicking here. More information will be provided as it progresses. Minutes of meetings and activities of the Committee are now presented to and accepted by Town Council and are part of the official record.
Watch for details outlining a special one day event to introduce resident General Practitioners (Doctors) to our community. Early February will see this special event with hopefully some interest in new Doctors considering a move to and establish practices in our community. (click here for more info) NEW Also, click here to see a recent SCOPE News article.
Of course we are mostly concerned with providing some on-going support for the Sandycove Acres community which has some unique needs as it is essentially a seniors community.
November 2011 status report – The Innisfil Community Health Committee meets regularly to develop ideas and plans to provide healthcare solutions for the Town of Innisfil and in particular for our community. Sandycove Acres is well represented on the Committee and part of the planning process will soon see a survey to establish needed statistical data to aid in funding for a new healthcare clinic. Please watch this web site www.scahomeowners.com for breaking news on this very important issue or e-mail us at info@scahomeowners.com
This past month the Committee met twice to cover all the pertinent information. A number of groups have presented to the Committee including the Ontario Association of Health Centres in which they also presented the Committee with planning tools to help move a process along in Innisfil. Agendas and minutes along with meeting notes are all being presented to Council on a regular basis so that the Committee proceedings are official and is supported to Council.
November 16th Council will consider the allocation of funds to be directed towards data or statistical gathering of information in Innisfil. This data will then be used to support proposals to the Provincial government for funding and consideration for health services. Please see the article from the Innisfil Journal reporting this funding (click on the following) www.simcoe.com/print/1246534
October 2011 status report – The Innisfil Community Health Committee is now meeting regularly in an attempt to come up with healthcare solutions for the Town of Innisfil. Sandycove Acres is well represented on the Committee and regular updates will be made through this newsletter and the web site at www.scahomeowners.com.
MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS – A special notice was posted in the Sandycove Acres community to inform patients of the BCHC about transportation.
In addition to the SCA Transportation Committee Medical Drives program you may also call the Canadian Red Cross who will offer eligible clients assistance in travel to doctor's appointments, rehab clinics and various other adult programs. Services are provided by trained volunteers as well as a fleet of mini buses. For info and rates please call 705-721-3313 and ask for Transportation Services
September 2011 status report - The Innisfil Community Health Committee is the name of the new Committee charged with the responsibility of coming up with healthcare solutions for the Town of Innisfil. This Committee is fully supported by the Mayor and Town Council of Innisfil and is chaired by our Councilor Maria Baier. The Committee has had a number of meetings and has begun to formulate some strategies toward delivering healthcare to residents of Innisfil. Sandycove Acres is well represented on the Committee and regular updates will be made through the monthly newsletter and this web site.
August 2011 Newsletter status report - BARRIE COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE (BCHC). As reported earlier, the health clinic located in the Sandycove Plaza has been closed. Patients using this service are now going to the BCHC facility in Barrie at their downtown location.
What’s’ happening now – our Town Councilor Maria Baier along with the Mayor has formed a working group comprised of Innisfil residents and a mixture of healthcare professionals, business people and interested residents. Sandycove Acres is well represented and an initial meeting was very positive towards developing a healthcare initiative for Innisfil and in particular the North Innisfil area. There are a number of resources and avenues that we will be looking into and hopefully a positive plan will be developed.
No question about it, we are starting over again and it will take time to once again have health services available in our community.
It was announced May 30th, 2011 that the Barrie Community Health Centre (BCHC) located in the Sandycove Plaza on Lockhart Rd in Innisfil was being closed June 27th, 2011. This came as a shock to BCHC patients as well as to numerous Sandycove and area residents as once again we were losing a vital community service.
In response to a public outcry a meeting was called of the former North Innisfil Health Services Committee which since 1997 had been instrumental in having a health service located here in Sandycove. The meeting was chaired by Gord Wauchope, Committee Chair and also attending the meeting was Maria Baier, Town Councilor, 3 representatives from the Home Owners Association and 4 representatives of the BCHC including Christine Colcy, Executive Director and 2 current BCHC Board members.
An explanation was being looked for from all attendees. Little or no consolation was given and the Health Centre will close as originally announced. While it was understood there were some immediate challenges most in attendance were hoping for at least a delay in the process to allow some community input and/or involvement. BCHC through Ms Colcy agreed to send a letter outlining the reasons so that we could publish it in the monthly Sandycove Newsletter sent out through volunteer efforts to all residents of Sandycove Acres (see the following).
Councilor Baier has called for Innisfil Council "to support the formation of a Committee to investigate the feasibility of establishing locally-based community health care, focused on health promotion, illness prevention and provision of health care services." and that the committee "be comprised of Councilor Baier, Mayor Baguley and staff, as appointed by the Chief Administration Officer, along with consultation with the Executive Director of the Barrie Community Health Centre, the Barrie Area Physician Recruitment and agency representatives as required."
This motion was addressed at the July 13th Innisfil Town Council meeting.
Barrie Community Health Centre (BCHC))
New location, Business as Usual for Sandy Cove Clinic
The message was clear. Residents of the Sandy Cove Clinic will not lose their medical services. This was the information shared in a meeting of Sandy Cove residents and Innisfil patients on June 16th, held with local councilor, Sandy Cove Home Owners Executive and the North Innisfil advisory committee, chaired by Mr. Gord Wauchope. It was an opportunity for Barrie Community Health Centre (BCHC) Executive Director, Christine Colcy and Board members Bob Beckwith (Innisfil advisory committee and director on BCHC Board of directors) and Past Chair/Board Director Beverly Pearl, to share information regarding the transfer of patient care to the BCHC facilities.
BCHC Executive Director, Christine Colcy was the one who recruited Kerstin (Dr. Kersten Mossman) for Sandy Cove residents and is doing everything she can to retain these services for them.
Transferring the staff to the Barrie site was a challenging decision for the BCHC Board. The purpose of the move was to enhance accessibility to a full range of service while at the same time ensuring sustainability of the service. Being in the larger facility will enable staff to be provided with better support as well as conform to all related rules and regulations set out by the province.
“It's just relocation. We are well aware that in the past this clinic has been truly shut down. However we would remind you that we are relocating with full services,” said Bob Beckwith. “In addition”, he added, “there has been concern on the part of a number of residents with the extra inconvenience and stress of having to drive to downtown Barrie for services. We have been assured by the staff, who are well aware of the patients' needs, that every patient needing rides will be properly addressed.”
It is possible to get on a waiting list by registering with Health Care Connect at 1-800-445-1822 or through their website, click here. All new patients taken for Dr. Mossman (North Innisfil Health Services) will be from the North Innisfil catchment area.