Despite a wealth of support – roughly 30 per cent of the population – from St. Marys and area residents for a petition to save the local hospital’s emergency room hours and number of acute care beds, awareness about the possible changes in health care services across the region is surprisingly limited.
According to results from the alliance-commissioned phone survey, only 12 per cent of those contacted in St. Marys said they were familiar with the Vision 2013 plan. Of all those contacted across the region for the survey, six per cent, only slightly more than one in 20 residents, reported being even somewhat familiar with the plan.
Alliance CEO Andrew Williams, who last week gave a brief presentation on the survey’s results to members of the alliance board, said he was surprised to see that recognition of the plan in St. Marys was nowhere near the number of people who signed the petition. He added the overall lack of awareness about the plan was disappointing, especially after undertaking several outreach initiatives including community workshops and a community report.  
“There’s been a very limited uptake in the communication material we sent out,” he noted.
The survey, conducted by Strategic Counsel out of Toronto, compiled results from 650 people across Huron and Perth counties, and residents of outlying communities. Results were broken down by community, gender and income. The full 113-page document is available on the alliance website (www.hpha.ca).
“We tried to focus the questions around the vision process, the ideas we are looking at, to try and gauge support for the concepts,” Williams said of the survey, adding there were positives to take from the results.
Eighty-eight per cent across the region indicated it was important to examine and implement changes to the future of health care. Residents in St. Marys were slightly less inclined to agree, at 79 per cent.
Williams noted people generally showed a good level of support, 74 per cent, towards the notion of creating centres of specialty at each of the alliance’s four sites. Support towards each hospital offering different expertise was lowest in St. Marys, however, at 63 per cent.
Eighty-five per cent of St. Marys residents, meanwhile, agreed with the statement that it’s important all four sites remain open, even if it means offering different services at different locations.
“Throughout the document there’s quite a good level of support for specialization at sites,” noted Williams. “The notion of being all things to all people ... people recognize that just isn’t sustainable into the future.”
Williams added support for centres of specialty was notably high amongst recent visitors to one of the alliance’s four sites.
“They’re aware of what’s going on, so they’re quicker to support it,” he said.
Support for maintaining acute care beds at all alliance sites was strong, with 83 per cent overall, and 88 per cent in St. Marys.
Not surprisingly, support towards considering a review of emergency room hours at all four sites was less enthusiastic at 75 per cent regionally. Support for this was lowest in St. Marys, at 71 per cent. Likewise, only 35 per cent across the region and 26 per cent locally agreed that they’d be prepared to give up their 24-hour emergency room if it meant a high quality and well-staffed ER was available at another alliance site.
Williams noted it was not surprising to see people generally support a review of emergency room hours, but oppose any reduced hours at their local hospital.
“People recognize the need for change, but when it affects a specific service they’re used to locally, they are resistant to that change.”
Other survey results showed high satisfaction from residents who visited an alliance hospital in the past year, with the highest satisfaction being reported in St. Marys. The survey also indicated a high level of distrust and unfavourable impressions of the alliance from residents in Seaforth, and to a lesser extent, St. Marys.
Williams noted the assumption many people have that the alliance’s plan is motivated by funding – the survey shows 41 per cent regionally believe lack of money as the main reason – is simply not true. He said challenges around recruitment and retention of health care professionals, and quality standards all necessitate a change. He added in the years to come if provincial funding continues to diminish, changes might then have to be made based on resources, but not at this point.
Community forums are planned for March and April. Williams said the alliance will shape each forum based on the information in the survey. He added the final plan put forward by the alliance will be a balance between all competing demands.
“We’ll aim to make what we feel are the best recommendations for health care in this region ... and in the best interests of the people we serve.
“It is going to mean change, we know that, exactly what is yet to be determined.”