Investment in healthcare capacity needed

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Editor: In as much as I am delighted with the news of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance receiving a $4.2-million boost from the Ontario government, I am equally disappointed in a trend – a lack of equal level of investment in enhancing the community’s capacity in maintaining our health in Chatham-Kent and in the rest of the Province of Ontario.

There is no doubt that the non-profit public hospitals, which provide medical services (acutecare treatments, surgeries etc.,) need more funding in keeping up with an ever-increasing cost of operation. Their needs are a priority also.

As a senior citizen of Chatham-Kent, I appreciate and support CKHA. And as a satisfied patient, I attest to the fact that

CKHA provides a quality of medical services.

However, since there is more to health care than hospital-based care, I believe that any investment in this area does not necessarily translate into enhancing the community’s capacity, as far as our overall health is concerned. Misunderstanding between the overall health with acute care happens when we assume “health” with the “acute care/treatments in the hospital.”

When I advocate on behalf of the community-based resources, I mean investing in all those factors which enhance our overall health, factors which promote prevention, after-care and all the emotional and social supports which we need to remain healthy and keep ourselves out of the hospitals.

I believe that any investment in health should include a fully funded strategy in the development of an alternate level of care to support a transition of acute care services to the community. This will require much greater levels of collaborations within the various departments of the Ministry of Health and among the various ministries as well.

The fact remains that the community-based health resources remain an orphan child of the healthcare system in Ontario. In my experience, successive governments over the years have not recognized the value of the community, as much as they should have, in the delivery of overall health services.

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