A Retired Physician And A Former MPP Address Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance About Service At Clinton Hospital ER

by Bob Montgomery

Retired Physician Doctor Maarten Bokhout and former MPP Carol Mitchell, both from the Clinton area, made a presentation to the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance Board at last week’s meeting to express concerns about the delay in returning full service to the Emergency Department at the Clinton Hospital.

A public meeting was held in April in which Clinton area residents were invited to voice their concerns about the fact that the Clinton Hospital Emergency Department had been closed overnight for the last four years. Doctor Bokhout agreed with the people at that meeting that four years was a long time for something that was supposed to be temporary and it was time to address the problem. “It was clear from the meeting last November that they weren't going to give us any timelines and that led to the April 16th meeting and what was clear from the presentation last night was that there are still no timelines put in place, and there was no willingness to sit down with the nursing staff across the hospitals and say can we do something to alleviate this because it is unfair to have one community have this situation.”

One of the suggestions made by the HPHA Board was that communications between the Board and the Clinton residents needs to be improved, and Doctor Bokhout says, that gained some traction but isn't likely to be substantial in addressing the situation. Former MPP Carol Mitchell pointed out that plans that are currently in place are all long-term solutions, they're not immediate solutions, and the problem has been in place for more than four years.

Doctor Bokhout also acknowledges that the pandemic clearly contributed to the problem because there was an emergency that had to be dealt with but now it's time to deal with the situation in Clinton. Doctor Bokout says the next step is to organize a meeting with the community working group where he would present a summary of the meeting with the HPHA Board that would reflect reasonably accurately what was committed to. But, he says they have to make it clear that the current situation is not one they are comfortable with and it needs to be addressed.