BRAMPTON -
Physicians with William Osler Health Centre (WOHC) are currently working on a plan to bring medical students to Brampton, provincial supervisor Ken White said. Addressing members of the Brampton Rotary Club on Monday, White revealed WOHC is trying to arrange a deal with Hamilton-based McMaster University whereby medical students would fulfill some of their education requirements here. Although nothing is cemented in stone at this point, such a move would add a very important dimension to Brampton's health care community, and possibly expand operations at a redeveloped Peel Memorial Hospital (PMH). "You have a very progressive group of physicians who are really keen on teaching," White told the 70 or so people attending the Brampton Rotary Club luncheon held at Rotary Glen Banquet Hall, 1857 Queen St. W. "Right now, they are working on a formal arrangement with McMaster University. That program, by the looks of it, will be a very substantial program." White made reference to a teaching centre while answering a question posed by Brampton regional councillor John Sanderson on what a redeveloped PMH site (offline since Oct. 28) would look like. The provincial supervisor, appointed by Health Minister George Smitherman to oversee operations at the problem-stricken Brampton Civic Hospital in December, told Rotarians PMH would best serve as an ambulatory care facility where residents have easy access to treatment. The hospital would function around a mall concept, whereby patients needing diagnostic work, and some minor surgeries, could be in and out of the hospital relatively quickly. An ambulatory centre could also provide long-term care services, which in combination with relocating diagnostics and day surgeries would do a lot to free up space at BCH. A key figure in the establishment of an ambulatory care centre at Mississauga's Trillium Hospital nearly a decade ago, White said it is necessary to find new ways to deliver services given the strain on Canada's health care system. He suggested WOHC "push the boundaries of ambulatory care" including allowing patients to receive some treatment at home. "We are always going to need facilities with the Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and all the heavy inpatient care. But I think we tended to wrap health services around the inpatient and acute care side, and it hasn't been good," White explained. "Most of you are aware that the amount of money we are spending on health care and it's just going to continue to climb. We have got to find new ways of delivering services. Otherwise, there is going to be no tax dollars for anything else. We've got a commitment on that centre (PMH) and ambulatory care will push the boundaries on how we deliver care." The future of the Lynch Street site has been a hot button issue for residents since provincial politicians suggested in 2007 there was a chance the facility would close permanently. Queen's Park has reaffirmed its commitment to keeping PMH open and cash for redevelopment has been earmarked. A taskforce made up of various stakeholders and provincial representatives has recommended PMH be redeveloped as an ambulatory care facility, despite opposition from community members who argued one emergency department in Brampton is not enough. White noted basic emergency and urgent care services are a possibility for PMH. Community stakeholders, including The Brampton Board of Trade, have encouraged health care officials to think creatively when drafting a plan for a redeveloped site including using PMH as a training facility. Incoming BBOT president Carman McClelland said the idea of a teaching component at PMH is encouraging, but stressed the BBOT is still firm on the position that PMH be a full-service hospital. "I understand exactly what Mr. White is saying in terms of ambulatory being the cutting edge of the future...but Brampton is still operating at about one-third of the provincial average in terms of full service hospitals," McClelland said.
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