Despite assertions from health care administrators that the status quo is not sustainable, a group of St. Marys and area residents continue to lead a charge to save the local hospital from cuts to service.
The community action group, which was initiated by Mayor Jamie Hahn in the fall, will go before the local advisory committee of St. Marys Memorial Hospital Feb. 18 to present a petition with the signatures of over 2,000 people who do not wish to see the emergency room hours or number of acute care beds at the hospital reduced.
Both scenarios are possible outcomes of the Vision 2013 plan being developed by the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance. The plan calls for a restructuring of services across the alliance’s four sites – St. Marys Memorial, Stratford General, Seaforth Community and Clinton Public hospitals.
At times last year, administrators struggled to keep the 24-hour ER open in St. Marys, predominantly due to a shortage of physicians. Both in June and October the shifts were filled at the last minute using short-term solutions. The ER in Seaforth, meanwhile, has been on reduced hours due to a shortage of nurses for the last year.  Alliance CEO Andrew Williams says the goal at the end of the day is to have four viable and strengthened sites.
“The approach we’re taking right now is (to review) our ER hours of operation. We want to make sure we’re using our staff and facilities to provide maximum value. It’s hard to say what the balance will be until our final analysis is complete.
“We’re not looking at full closure of any emergency rooms,” he adds.
Williams says health care organizations are looking for guidance from the Rural and Northern Healthcare Panel, which was formed last July to look at how health care is best provided by Local Health Integration Networks in  lower population-density areas. Even though ERs may have the most visibility,  they may not be the most efficient model of health care, he adds.
As for acute care beds, Williams says the number at each site may change, but that no site will lose all of its beds.
According Mayor Hahn, reducing either the ER hours or acute care beds will have a negative impact on the town and the surrounding residents who rely on the hospital.
“These people need to understand urban solutions don’t necessarily work in a rural environment,” he adds, noting as the town continues to grow, so to will its health care needs.
Hahn says the group wants a decision that will positively affect the town and not hurt its efforts to retain present industries and attract new ones. Twenty-four hour ER coverage can greatly enhance the town to potential investors, he adds.
Rita Jeninga, a member of the community group, says reducing ER hours makes no sense, especially when considering the number of workers on night shift, kids who play organized sports and seniors in town who at any time might need immediate care.
“If they can stabilize someone here and then move them, that’s fine, but we need this hospital to do that,” she notes. “We don’t want a regrettable situation.”
Another concern for the group is the number of times area highways are closed – a possibility that’s all too real for Lita Miandro of St. Marys, a member of the community group who 15 years ago was rushed to the hospital after suffering a heart attack on a morning when winter weather had shut down surrounding roads.
“Time was of the essence. The attending physician told me I crossed over twice that night,” Miandro recalls. “Had I had to go to Stratford, I wouldn’t be here talking to you.”
In the mid-90s Miandro was president of the hospital auxiliary, and sat on the hospital board. She recalls when the hospital reduced its acute care beds to 21 from 60 – a decision she says was wrong even then.
“I absolutely detest the thought of them reducing it any more,” she adds.
Many of these concerns are echoed on the petitions that will soon be in the hands of alliance administrators. Mayor Hahn says the comments left were terrific, and show the fear many people have should they need to leave town for immediate care. Hahn adds he hopes people who are signing the petition have taken the time to learn about the proposed changes.
As for Williams, he says he’s seen the petition, and thinks it’s good people are engaged in the process.
“Any feedback we get from the community action group will be factored into our decision,” he says.
Up to this point, the alliance’s public consultation process has included a series of poorly attended public workshops in the fall, a community report which appeared in the Journal Argus Weekender in December, and an extensive phone survey – the results of which are expected to be released at the alliance board’s next regular meeting this Thursday in Stratford.
The results from the phone survey, along with the questions, will also be available on the alliance website.
The survey, conducted by Toronto-based market research firm Strategic Counsel, compiled feedback from 650 people – 100 from St. Marys, Clinton and Seaforth, 150 from Stratford and 200 from surrounding communities. 
Williams explains the alliance wanted a fair representation of its hospitals’ users, which is why the surveyors may have asked some pre-screening questions.
He says the alliance is waiting to move forward with it next phase of public consultation, a series of public forums, until after the board has had a look at the phone survey results. This way the forums can be tailored to each community based on the feedback received, he notes.
“I would expect the public forums late in March or early April. We’re not pushing them because we want to make sure they’re done properly,” he adds.
As for the community group, its work is ongoing. The group began contacting local and area schools this week, hoping a petition and background information will be sent home with students.
The group was also planning to attend Perth South council to ask for its support, and plan to be present at the upcoming forums.
“We have to fight the fight,” says Mayor Hahn. “We’re the underdogs, we know that, but sometimes the underdogs win.”