An early look at the future of Muskoka healthcare will be ready next spring.
Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare is putting together a Capital Plan Development Task Force with $1 million in funding from the province.
MAHC Board Chair Evelyn Brown says this committee is tasked with deciding between renovating the two current hospitals in Bracebridge and Huntsville or building a new facility.
Brown says the task force will be using information put together by the Muskoka and Area Health System Transformation Council.
Muskoka and Area Health Transformation System, or MAHST, is a group of healthcare professionals and community members working to improve hospital and at-home care in the area.
MAHC Executive Director Natalie Bubela says this first stage of planning still needs to go back to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for approval and then MAHC has more planning stages to go through before building can start, which could take several years.
Bubela says during this time, healthcare service will continue to run at both hospitals in Muskoka.
She says community support is still a major factor in ensuring both hospitals can continue to provide up-to-date healthcare services.
Currently, the MAHC board is starting to form its planning task force, which Brown says should be ready by August.
The task force will be made up of members of the board, hospital staff, MAHST, municipal officials and local healthcare experts.
In 2015, the MAHC Board met to discuss how to deal with the two aging hospitals and members voted in favour of building a facility on a new site.
Since then municipal officials in Muskoka have raised concerns about what economic or other impacts closing a hospital in either community could have.