East Ottawa Star
Published: Friday, August 21, 2009 Finding a home for the health hub In June 2008, former provincial health minister George Smitherman came to Orléans with $100K for a business plan study for a health hub: an uber clinic that could house several family health teams, day surgery facilities, chemo and radiation services, diagnostic imaging, a lab facility, and other allied health activities such psychosocial counselling, addiction care and health nutritionists just to name a few. At the time I wrote that this was all well and good but local community and political pressure had to be sustained because, quite frankly, governments of all political stripes too often fund studies that lead to more studies and communities are no further ahead as a result. It’s cynical politics on the backs of needy communities. Thankfully, several local groups have kept up the pressure which resulted in Premier McGuinty being flanked by our own MPP and local healthcare leaders at the Centrum Client Service Centre a week ago Thursday announcing $1 million for the next phase – detailed design plans, etc. – of making our health hub a reality. Cue to applause: yippee! Okay, celebration is over. Efforts must now turn to securing a site, putting together the financials (including a community fundraising component) and applying even more pressure for a sod-turning ceremony in 2010 or 2011 at the latest. This hub, once fully operational, will employ over 200 medical and other professionals and serve 110,000-plus residents. It will be a pioneering model of the future of primary care. But its location is key. While our growth as a community continues southward, we should resist the temptation to put the hub amidst the big box blah that now dominates Innes Road. Instead, the facility would best be suited somewhere along the 174 with mass transit access. And the Minto lands along Champlain across from Place d’Orléans fit this bill. They are already favourably zoned, accessible via car and transit, centrally located and complement the emerging development around the Shenkman Arts Centre and what we will eventually see along St. Joseph Boulevard five and 10 years out. Next up, government funding for new health care facilities such as our future health hub/polyclinic/mini-hospital (take your pick) is always contingent upon some portion of community funding. The health care institutions and other groups involved will need to build a dynamic cabinet of local leaders to design, execute and realize this objective. Creativity in terms of naming opportunities, in-kind contributions from businesses and adhering to sound constructo-environmental (ex: LEED building design) principles must govern the efforts of this group to ensure full community ownership of and pride in our health hub. The health hub is now within our grasp but it will only be realized if we continue with the present template of the public/private/people partnership that has brought us to this point. For as I wrote in my June 6, 2008 column, “In politics, no victory is ever carved in stone.” = = = = = Comments can be sent to Walter Robinson at orleansouttakes@transconitnental.ca |