Cholly Boland, president and CEO of Headwaters Health Care Centre, says the hospital will investigate a complaint it received from a Mono resident concerning its response to indications he faced a possible heart attack.

An e-mail containing a copy of Ian McKay’s letter of complaint to the hospital was received by this paper on Tuesday.

Mr. Boland, said Headwaters has a complete process concerning patient complaints. “With any complaint we take it very seriously, we investigate it, we follow up directly with the patient and we implement changes based on what we’ve learned,” he said.

Although Mr. Boland commented that Headwaters would be following up directly with Mr. McKay, he said they will not be commenting on this specific situation publicly.

However, he did comment on Headwaters’ desire to improve in the event of an unsatisfactory visit to the hospital.

“We prefer that they do it when they’re having the experience, when they’re having the situation, at the time that they have a complaint,” he said. “That’s the way we improve when people tell us what they are unsatisfied with and we welcome that opportunity.”

In the letter, Mr. McKay said that on Tuesday, March 9 he experienced a sharp pain in his chest while walking to work along Toronto’s University Avenue. The pain stopped when he stopped walking but it was enough to worry him into going to the Headwaters walk-in clinic after work that day.

Mr. McKay said he was seen that day by one of the doctors at the clinic who believed it was heart-related pain and prescribed a nitroglycerin spray designed to relieve the pain if it happened again. The doctor had also stated that Mr. McKay would need to undergo a stress test as well as an angiogram.

Although an urgent request was then faxed to another doctor’s office to schedule these tests, by Thursday, March 11, Mr. McKay had yet to hear anything from that doctor’s office about scheduling. When he called the office he was told the fax from Tuesday hadn’t been dealt with yet.

Mr. McKay said he then went to his own doctor in Oakville on Friday morning, March 12. She had agreed that the symptoms were heart-related and required urgent attention, but referred him back to Headwaters because of his desire to be treated closer to home. He says he spent several hours in the Emergency department at Headwaters before yet another doctor agreed that he needed to schedule the same tests as the two previous doctors.

Initially, the earliest appointment Headwaters had available for an Echocardiogram was April 12, a month away, but the X-ray department later managed to do it on March 24. He said the hospital’s Doctor of Radiology “told me that she would call the specialist and ask to have the timing for the stress test speeded up..”

Mr. McKay said that after waiting for a few days he called the specialist’s office only to be told the stress test could not be scheduled until after he had a consultation with the specialist, on April 22.

“I immediately contacted my doctor who said this timing was unacceptable under these circumstances and, having given up on being able to receive treatment in the Headwaters Health Care system in any kind of timely fashion, I agreed that she refer me to her local system, i.e., Oakville Trafalgar and Trillium Hospitals. Within that system, I was able to go through all the necessary diagnostic examinations/ consultations and to receive (successful) angioplasty on May 13,” just three weeks later than his consultation with the specialist would have been in Orangeville.

“I was advised by the cardiologist that, based on the nature of the blockage in my artery, I was fortunate not to have had a heart attack. I was scheduled for my follow-up consultation with the cardiologist on June 17 and it appears all is well.”

Mr. McKay said his concerns lie in the Headwaters administrative system, the possible need for more specialists and the delays he experienced.

Mr. Boland is not commenting on this specific case but stated that everyone involved will be spoken to during the investigation.

“We really very sincerely want to ensure patients don’t have unsatisfactory experiences at Headwaters,” he said. “We want to make sure that we have the opportunity to improve.”

Groundbreaking held for old firehall

Orangeville Mayor Rob Adams, MP David Tilson, Fire Chief Andy Macintosh and owner John Lokker, among others, were at the old firehall on Broadway to for a groundbreaking ceremony.

Since Mr. Lokker bought the fire hall, which had been used as a Pizza Pizza outlet, five years ago, he has been planning to renovate it in an attempt to restore it to its former glory.

“We saw potential to restore it to its original state,” he commented.

Architect Ian Starkey stated that the addition to the building would be a total of 1500 square feet. The renovations will convert the old firehall into leasable office space, mixing the original charm of the historic building and the contemporary style of Mr. Starkey.

Mr. Lokker said they are focusing on preserving as much of the style as possible. They are making replicas of the original fire hall doors currently being archived, as well as an old fire hydrant.

A deadline has been set for the end of December this year.