Mayor writes MoH asking for funding changes

Honourable Deb Matthews
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Minister Matthew’s, I would first off like to thank you for the meeting we had in Toronto last week. I appreciated the opportunity to meet with you to discuss the very serious problem of Doctor/Locum Recruitment and Retention facing the community of Rainy River.
The information I provided to yourself and your staff gave an overview of the issues and possible solutions to the problem which is faced by other small communities throughout the province.
Once again, I would ask that your Ministry consider moving emergency room funding from the present agreement to funding for low volume 24 hour emergency rooms under the AFA plan. The lack of a competitive rate has hindered our attempts for recruiting 2 full-time physicians, as well as, on-going locum coverage.
As illustrated in a letter from Dr. Singleton, the last remaining physician here, that an increase to $200.00/hour would greatly enhance our chances of recruiting permanent physicians, as well as, locums as evidenced in the situations whereby we were facing emergency room closure and the Ministry enhanced the remuneration to locums and they were lined up to come here for coverage.

This community has 40 days left at which time our remaining physician will resign and we will be without any physicians. This becomes a very serious health and safety issue for the residents in the west end of the Rainy River District which includes four municipalities and two First Nations communities. The next nearest emergency room is located in Fort Frances more than an hour away and as much as two hours from other municipalities which use the Rainy River Hospital Emergency Room. Alongside the distance issue we also experience harsh weather conditions which will further increase the response times for people to receive emergency treatment in Fort Frances.
As previously related to you, the increased cost of Ambulance Services will be in the area of $600,000 to $700,000.00. This will place another great strain on the finances of municipalities in this area which is already economically depressed for the most part.
The Town of Rainy River is a service hub for the west end of the Rainy River District. Presently, the Rainy River Hospital is a major employer in the area. Closure of this facility will further hurt the economy and families of the area as many will be forced to move to find other employment opportunities.
The large percentage of the citizens of the Town and surrounding area are seniors, who more than ever, need the services available through the Clinic and Hospital. I was glad to hear you say that there would be no hospital closures, but we need to keep the emergency room open here as well.
I implore you to consider the recommendations from practicing physicians, as well as, other Emergency Room professionals to alleviate the recruitment and retention problems which have risen here in Rainy River.
I look forward to your reply and hope that all parties involved can work together to resolve this situation on a permanent basis so we can move on with the tasks of making our communities and province the great places they are to live.

Sincerely,
Deb Ewald, Mayor
Town of Rainy River