The Meaford Hospital Foundation is looking for a pledged commitment from municipal council to help meet the needs of the hospital and Grey Bruce Health Services (GBHS).
During a meeting on March 13, council received a presentation from Executive Director of the foundation Amelda FitzPatrick.
The presentation outlined the benefits of the local hospital, and how the $1 million given from the municipality since 1996 has supported the foundation, which in turn has supported the community as a whole.
Having taken care of the community for 70 years, the Meaford hospital includes a five-day per week operating room, 24/7 service, 15 in-patient beds, and a heli pad.
During the presentation, FitzPatrick touched on the challenges the hospital is facing.
“The needs keep increasing. Some of our average length of stay has increased, the number of emergency department visits has increased over five per cent each year and growing. We know that through the pandemic it is a very busy little hospital and it is providing excellent care for the people who live here,” says FitzPatrick. “We are in some of the fastest growing communities in Ontario and as the population grows, so do the needs of the hospital.”
In her presentation she adds new medical equipment and other capital expenditures are not covered by provincial funding, and hospitals need to raise funds in the community to buy anything from blood pressure cuffs and patient beds, to high-tech equipment.
“The benefit in our investment in equipment will serve everybody that lives here as well as people who come to visit our municipality,” says FitzPatrick.
She adds by working together with the municipality, the foundation can commit to building a healthier community with the right equipment.
GBHS, which the Meaford hospital falls under, currently has a number of capital priorities. These include the $3.5 million purchase and installation of a second MRI machine in Owen Sound, and various other machines and equipment costing a total of over $300,000.
FitzPatrick says with the end of Meaford’s previous five year commitment, she is asking the municipality consider doing so again.
Both Coun. Harley Greenfield and Deputy Mayor Shirley Keaveney spoke about the benefits of having this hospital in the community, with Mayor Ross Kentner saying he does not doubt they will have further conversations about the future of the hospital.