Bracebridge Mayor Graydon Smith and Huntsville Mayor Scott Aitchison are still talking local healthcare with the Province. Most recently it happened during a conference call yesterday with a Senior Policy Advisor from the office of the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. On the call, the Mayors discussed the importance of the continued delivery of acute care services at both the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital in Bracebridge and the Huntsville District Memorial Hospital.
The Mayors emphasized that, although they were pleased with the announcement that the Ministry had provided Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) with $1.5 million in one-time hospital funding for the year ending March 31st, they were still committed to working with the Board of MAHC and the Ministry to identify a sustainable funding model to support acute care hospital services in both Bracebridge and Huntsville.
“The Senior Policy Advisory from the Minister’s Office suggested that the Town’s stay in close contact with both MAHC and the North Simcoe Muskoka Local Health Integration Network (NSM LHIN) and we will be reaching out to the LHIN to schedule a meeting in the near future,” said Mayor Aitchison.
Mayor Smith commented that “by working together, the two communities are able to clearly voice to MAHC, the LHIN and the Province how important our hospitals and their services are to Bracebridge”