Wednesday, January 14, 2015
South Bruce Grey Health Centre
Public Meeting to Be Held Regarding Restorative Care Unit Closure
Community members are invited by South Bruce Grey Health Centre's (SBGHC) Board of Directors to an open meeting that will be held at the Elmwood Community Centre on Friday, January 23 regarding the closure of the Restorative Care Unit at SBGHC's Chesley site scheduled for May 2015.
Since announcing the closure of the Restorative Care Unit in early December, the Ministry of Health, the South West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) and SBGHC have received a tremendous amount of feedback from the public emphasizing the importance of this program to the community.
The Restorative Care Unit opened in November 2011, supported by one-time start-up funding from the South West LHIN, in response to a high percentage of hospitalized patients in Grey and Bruce waiting in acute care beds for placement in the community.
The focus of the trial 10 bed unit has been to help patients regain their independence after the acute phase of an illness with the expectation that they will be able to return home.
SBGHC's Board of Directors made the decision to close the unit as it is unfunded, costing the organization approximately $800,000 annually to run, and new provincial programs have been introduced in recent years to care for a similar patient population.
Due to the interest in the community around this program, SBGHC has arranged a public meeting to discuss the program further with its stakeholders. The meeting will be held at the Elmwood Community Centre on Friday, January 23 at 4:00 pm.
John Haggarty, Board Chair, has stated that referrals to the program will continue to be accepted beyond the original cut-off date of January 1, 2015 while SBGHC's Board of Directors works through options for the program with the LHIN and other area health providers.
Media Contact:
Meghan Legge
Communications Coordinator
519-370-2400 ext 2281
mlegge@sbghc.on.ca
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