By Cecilia Nasmith

After a succession of budgets in which Northumberland Hills Hospital staff were asked to do more with less, spirits were high Friday with an announcement by Northumberland-Peterborough South MPP David Piccini.

The news is that the hospital will get $3.79-million in additional funding, an amount that includes a 1.5% rise in base funding.

Hospital president and chief executive officer Linda Davis said it was the day she had dreamed of - “a very significant day, and one that I believe that I and the team and NHH will remember for a very long time.”

It was a landmark announcement, Piccini agreed.

“Over the past number of years, hospitals have been under increased pressure, especially in rural Ontario – especially our medium-sized hospitals,” he said.

“Simply put, provincial funding was not matching the pressures felt by our hospitals, specifically medical pressures. Today we are righting that wrong.”

Piccini spoke of historical funding inequities for small, medium and multi-site hospitals that must be addressed in an effort to end hallway health care.

In the case of NHH, he predicted the funding will bring stability and allow for investment in priority needs for patient-centred care.

“This is tremendous news, and we are extremely grateful to you, to Minister of Health Christine Elliott and our government for the funding support you are providing at NHH,” Davis said.

“NHH has struggled for some time to balance our budget, while still continuing to provide the same level of service,” she added, mentioning simultaneous inflationary and population growth that had taxes their resources.

Facing the daunting task of reconciling the services that were needed with the funding available, the hospital even enlisted the help of the Central East Local Health Integration Network several years ago, resulting in an extensive audit-and-review process and a rigourous Hospital Improvement Plan.

NHH board chair Pam Went recalled those years of struggle, with so much of the board's time and attention taken up by budget worries. The improved funding picture will free that time and attention for planning for the future.

“We now have the luxury of some time to talk about getting ready and creating strategic directions for this hospital that will get us through the next five, 10 and, hopefully, 30 years,” Went said.

Davis called the news a turning point in the hospital's evolution, a new day where they can not only identify priority needs but also invest in them.

She listed some changes contemplated in such areas as the emergency department, community mental health and ambulatory care. But by far, the most excitement centred around being able to reverse one initiative imposed by the Hospital Improvement Plan in 2016 – the consolidation of medical-surgical inpatient care into one unit instead of two in order to gain needed efficiencies.

In hospital lingo, 2A and 2B were both merged into 2B, swelling a manageable 36-bed unit into a 52-bed unit scattered down three halls.

Davis introduced two staffers who have worked with this new configuration to explain the impact it had had on patient care and staff morale.

Registered Nurse Penny Baird, a charge nurse on 2B, said the large area they had to cover made it difficult to provide the excellent patient care they strive for. The single nursing station was often crowded, making for a stressful and noisy environment.

The patients in this unit are mostly elderly, more frail and vulnerable. When they need help, every second counts. But the large area each nurse had to cover only increased their waiting time – and anxiety.

Staff morale declined as nurses felt they could not give their best, and turnover rates rose.

“This will help rectify that problem, allowing us to create sustainability within our workplace and allowing nurses to be more effective at their jobs,” Baird said.

“Now we will be able to focus our attention on a smaller area, which will create an environment which is more suitable for nurses, and allow them to focus more fully on their duties and respond to patients in a more timely manner,” she added.

“I know, in the end, we'll have the best care, and the patients and their families will be the most impacted by the many positive changes that will occur over the next few months.”

Dr. Andrew Stratford, a general surgeon, recalled his decision to leave a big-city hospital for NHH 15 years ago.

“The singular feature of this hospital that drew me to Cobourg was actually the nursing staff,” he said.
“You could not believe the enthusiastic, caring, friendly nurses that were so obviously part of our community. It was such a wonderful thing to see, coming from a bigger city.”

Dr. Stratford recalled perhaps a dozen successive years of being asked to do more with less simply by being more efficient.

He has seen the toll on the nursing staff, hearing tales of new nurses being warned not go to Northumberland Hills Hospital and work on 2B. Those who did come would often decide after a single shift that they could not handle it. Those who stayed, he found, were often doing so based on the hope that the 2A-2B merger would be reversed.

Davis agreed that, just as NHH cares for its patients, it must also care for its staff members with the appropriate work environment. Northumberland County Warden Bob Sanderson echoed that belief.

“I know how much work you have done and what the stress is for you to manage finances you can't manage,” Sanderson said.

“Anyone who has been in this hospital knows the quality of care and the dedication of the staff. It's second to none.

“Nobody should be sitting in a hallway waiting for health care,” he stated.

“Ontario residents deserve good health care. The people who are providing it deserve to be funded properly.”

“We do understand Northumberland County is growing and aging, creating even more need for NHH to be a vibrant health-care facility as well as a major employer in the county,” Davis said.
“Today's announcement will allow us to grow with the county and meet its acute-care needs.”