However disappointed Shelburne Mayor Ed Crewson might have been by the decision to close the Shelburne hospital site, he says he is encouraged by the support shown by Central West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) at a meeting in Shelburne last Wednesday.

On the surface, it might not appear there was much progress at the meeting but the mayor said the LHIN signalled a sincere interest in the plight of north Dufferin and Shelburne residents.

“Well, they established terms of reference for a study and set a date for the next meeting,” he said, “but they seemed to be supportive of an urgent care centre where the emergency department used to be.”

He said there would be a lot of hoops to go through, but “they indicated support for bringing more health services to Shelburne.”

The LHIN, he said, appears prepared to engage a consultant to establish the needs. “In my opinion a consultant is not needed but it would likely be a requirement for provincial funding. They could talk to any six people and get the same answers, but the credibility is enhanced by having an independent consultant” and a larger sampling.

The mayor, and Lion Don Stewart in an earlier interview, would welcome something in the nature of an urgent care centre – described as something providing a level of service between that of the family physician and an emergency department.

The mayor quoted Sue Snider, a member of the recruitment committee, as saying there are numerous “urgent care centres” in Manitoba, and they are serving a purpose well.

He said the LHIN has completed a Bolton study and is proposing one for that community. At least, the Bolton task force included such a centre in its studies there, he said.

The centre, if established for Shelburne, wouldn’t solve the physician shortage problem. But he said that is another bridge to cross at the right time.

Mayor Crewson does not consider the efforts at keeping Headwaters Health Care Centre’s Shelburne campus open to have been totally wasted.

He said he believes those efforts had brought Shelburne into the spotlight for the LHIN, and quite likely have led to the interest being taken by that health planning and funding body now that the complex care program will be moved to Orangeville.

The Shelburne Community Health Task Force was formed by the LHIN to consider ways to improve primary and community health care in the Shelburne area.

The next meeting, to be held February 8, will discuss health services in Shelburne through presentations from existing service providers. The task force will meet again on April 14 to review a report analyzing services and current and future needs. On May 5 a public meeting will be held to share the outline of a services plan incorporating the Health and Care model.

A second public meeting will be held on June 2, with the final meeting of the Task Force scheduled for June 9.

“Health and Care Centres are a new model to improve community-based services based upon the specific needs of the local community and the identification of a set of core community based and primary care services,” said Ms. Lowi-Young.

Health and Care Centres will serve as one of primary gateways to the health system and focus on health promotion, disease prevention, health-care treatment, and rehabilitation services, as appropriate. The Centres have the potential to co-locate healthcare professionals and integrate a broad range of services at a single location. They may use e-technology linkages to bring together health care professionals and could be managed by existing health service providers or could be offered by a new provider.

Mr. McReynolds noted that the task force meetings are open to the public

and meeting procedures follow the rules of the Central West LHIN board meetings.”