Headwaters Health Care Centre's board of directors has decided to defer closure of the former Shelburne District Hospital, at least until after it holds a public meeting in Shelburne early in December.

The board's decision, along with its agreement to have a representative on a sub-committee to find alternatives to closing, came Tuesday night following Shelburne council's decision to press the board to keep the Shelburne chroniccare facility open.

The sub-committee, Mayor Ed Crewson said Wednesday, will comprise the Ministry of Health's liaison to the Local Health Integration Network, a representative of LHIN, the Mel Lloyd medical clinic, and the Centre Dufferin physician recruitment committee, as well as municipal and county representatives, among others, in round-table discussions.

The "stay of execution," as the mayor described the deferral of closure, might have been both good news and bad. "They agreed to make a decision after public consultation but did not commit" to deferring until after the sub-committee has explored alternatives.

"They said they would make a decision after the public consultation."

The mayor was appalled that the hospital president/CEO initially based his closure recommendation on a perceived need to trim the HHCC budget by more than $2-million. By Tuesday night, he said, the reasoning had devolved into "quality of care" and not about money at all. Turns out, he said quoting CEO Cholly Boland from Tuesday's meeting, that the financial saving would be no more than $100,000.

"Now they say the quality of chronic care would be better at the Orangeville site. But that's not what the (Shelburne) patients and their families say. There are 2,832 names that say otherwise on a petition" opposing the closure.

(In fact, some say chroniccare patients get the lowest priority of care within an acutecare setting. It was the perceived need for a separate chronic care facility with specialized staff that led to con- version of the Shelburne hospital to chronic care and rehabilitation.)

In a phone interview, Mr. Boland said his $100,000 figure was based on the cost of transporting patients between the two sites when required. He said the actual savings by closure would be more like $750,000. He said his reference to quality of care was to having the patients at Orangeville in the event of cardiac arrest or some other emergency.

Armed with the petition, support from Dufferin County and the Greater Dufferin Area Chamber of Commerce and the backing of several municipalities, Shelburne council decided Monday to make last-ditch efforts to save the town's hospital.

Monday's council discussion of options was a bit of déjà vu for an emotional Mayor Crewson as he reported on a meeting he'd had with a health ministry policy adviser, along with a suggestion by the Local Health Integration Network of a nursing station of some kind.

"I told her I was somewhat dated on this. It was in 1992 that we were promised an afterhours clinic and ambulatory care (when the then- Dufferin Caledon Health Care Corp. decided to close the then-Shelburne District Hospital emergency ward by merging the two Dufferin hospitals.)

"None of that was realized," he said, adding that he is not convinced that the outcome today would be any different from 17 years ago.

"Once the doors are locked, the equipment would be dispersed," and the last hope would fade into darkness.

The mayor turned to the plight of the Shelburne patients. "None of this addresses the 22 patients at Shelburne."

He said the proposed closure would leave some of those patients without beds.

By consensus, the council would favour a round-table discussion involving all parties to the issue. But Mayor Crewson said the ministerial policy adviser would not attend but, instead, has suggested a liaison person with the LHIN, and advised that the minister of health could be contacted by the local MPP, Sylvia Jones.

The mayor asked for council's guidance on the next steps to be taken. Councillor AJ Cavey threw the ball back into the mayor's court. "What do you feel the next step should be?" she asked.

Councillor Geoff Dunlop suggested simply continuing to move up the ladder to the highest levels.

Meantime, the Chamber has urged hospital board chair Margot Hornseth and the directors to keep the Shelburne facility open.

In a letter dated Nov. 19 and copied to Mayor Crewson as well as to MPP Jones, Dufferin Warden Gord Montgomery and LHIN chair Joe McReynolds, Chamber President Ron Munro asks that the hospital board find ways to balance its budget without reducing the level of services provided.

"We, the (Chamber board), strongly urge you ... to aggressively approach the LHIN for more proportional funding based on population growth in this area instead of cutting services and facilities as a way of balancing your budget," the letter reads in part.

"As the (Chamber) endeavours to attract more business to this county and thus more residents, it is essential that the Shelburne and Orangeville sites of Headwaters Health Care Centre be a vital part of this community both now and for many years to come."