09-22-2014, 08:15 AM
Spokes Wrote:That the expansions aren't really doing enough to stop the wait times. That currently our hospitals are overflowing. An expansion is a band-aid fix that doesn't actually solve the problem in the short or long term.The long wait times are the result of issues like
(1) Lack of walk-in clinics that are open 24x7. This results in too many people going to Emerg unnecessarily
(2) Lack of rehab, assisted living and long term care facilities as well as home care. All too many recovering patients who could be discharged remain in hospital blocking beds needed by incoming patients.
Neither building expansions nor building new buildings will address those sorts of issues. It's like a water reservoir. If the input flow is greater than the output flow then the reservoir will overflow no matter how much bigger you make it,
If we addressed the underlying causes of long wait times at our hospitals we wouldn't need to expand them as much let alone build new ones. It's happening now but it's happening too slowly. The Boardwalk medical building is one attempt but it's not open 24x7. We're building more LTC facilities but not enough. We're increasing resources for home care but not nearly fast enough.
That said, as the region grows in physical size and density we may need more hospitals so that first responders can get emergency patients to the hospital within acceptable time limits.