Ottawa Sun
Published: Wednesday, January 13, 2010

One-stop access: Success of health hub will lie in governance and co-operation

Today, 2233 Mer Bleue Rd. in Orleans is a non-descript piece of tract farmland covered in snow just south of Orleans’ imitation of Merivale Rd.; its own big-box blizzard that runs eastward along Innes Rd. from Page Rd. all the way to Tenth Line.

But in roughly three years, 2233 Mer Bleue will be home to what will hopefully be the exemplar in the 21st century approach to delivering primary care in an urban setting: The $150-million Orleans Family Health Hub. So went the announcement this past Monday at Ray Friel centre to a packed room of politicians and local community leaders.

I’m no fan of the McGuinty government — think eHealth and OLG scandals or their tiny little $25-billion deficit — but they’ve got this one right. Or more accurately, they have embraced a concept that has been on the books for some 20 years. Nonetheless, good for them.

Orleans is a community of 120,000 and growing with really no access to proper and strategically located primary care — 80% of what you need from the health system — services. And building a hospital in this day and age in any city can run you $1 billion dollars. Enter the polyclinic, uber-medical-centre or health hub concept.

In a nutshell, the health hub will provide Orleans residents with one-stop access for the majority of their medical needs. Need to see your family health team doctor, he or she is there. If you need blood work or MRI, it will be there too. For those managing a chronic condition like kidney disease or cancer (yes, many cancers are curable and manageable these days), dialysis and chemotherapy services — perhaps radiation in the future — are also envisaged for the health hub. If your kids need to see an allergy specialist, ear, nose and throat doc, or psychologist, those services can be accommodated as well. Moreover, there are plans to incorporate some geriatric services and simple day surgery procedures to boot.

These services and procedures to be performed by doctors, nurses and other health professionals will be closer to home for Orleans residents and if successful, this model will be the future for primary health care in Ontario. In some ways, it is similar to HMO clinics in the U.S., but without the insurance overhead and out-of-pocket costs.

But the success — or failure — of the health hub will lie in the governance of and co-operation between all the various institutions who will offer services at the hub (Montfort Hospital, CHEO, Ottawa Hospital, the Champlain LHIN, Bruyere Continuing Care, and others) to ensure that a patient’s experience in this facility is seamless and devoid of any institutional issues, be they politics, preference or paperwork issues. And the community will have to be vigilant in this regard, we have waited a long time for this facility and $100 million in provincial funding — the largest project ever in Orleans as Coun. Rob Jellett stated — is a big chunk of taxpayer cash.

But co-operation should prevail if we consider the Taggart Group of companies’ action as a positive omen. They kicked off the community fundraising effort with a $3-million donation which leaves just another $47 million to be made up by the community and businesses to get to $150 million.