By Cecilia Nasmith

It's the first time Northumberland's two hospitals have come to the county for help – but, as representatives pointed out at a special county council meeting Monday, there has never been a time when it was so critically needed.

The ask from Northumberland Hills Hospital and Campbellford Memorial Hospital was for $10-million to replace badly needed equipment (new MRI and CT scanners at NHH, a new CT at CMH), to be paid in annual $1-million instalments beginning in the 2022 taxation year.

NHH President and Chief Executive Officer Linda Davis kicked off the appeal by saying that the 16 months of the COVID-19 pandemic had proven how important hospitals are and had shown how they best operate in collaboration – with other health-care providers as well as with the greater community. This has made possible not only the care of COVID and other patients, Davis said, but also the hospital setting up to provide COVID testing, help operate vaccination clinics and play a key role in establishing the Ontario Health Team-Northumberland.

But looking within their own walls, Davis said, both hospitals find themselves “embarking on a journey to transform care, and our vision is three-fold.”

Provide faster, smarter care

The best diagnostic equipment makes this possible, Davis said. The equipment at NHH operates seven days a week, eight to 10 hour a day – and in any case is nearing 20 years old.

Transform the patient, caregiver and provider experience

One key piece of this puzzle is the Clinical Information System, which will link Northumberland's two hospitals with five other regional hospitals as well as a number of other hospitals across the province and across the country, “providing seamless continuity between our organizations,” Davis said.

“The system will maximize the skill of our team to meet the complexity of today's health-care needs.”

Replace life-saving equipment and prepare for growth

“I cannot stress enough what investing in these priorities does to attract and retain talented clinical staff and physicians,” Davis said.

Recorded comments from staffers at both hospitals were part of the presentation, including those of NHH Chief of Staff and Internal Medicine Specialist Dr. Mukesh Bhargava.

“To attract the talent and retain the talent, we have got to give the talent the tools to operate, whether it be a surgeon, whether it be a radiologist, and these tools are not cheap,” Dr. Bhargava said.

Such an investment also provides a measure of equity among patients, whether they are in a Toronto hospital or one in Cobourg.

“You have access to similar technology,” he explained.

“That's why we need the investment. It's going from good to great but, more important, it's getting the equity of health care across the region, across the province, between big towns and small towns.”

The case was made not only for the sake of residents' health but also for the sake of supporting a community asset.

Combined, Davis said, both hospitals make up one of the county's biggest employers, with 1,057 full- and part-time staff that include 220 physicians and midwives. Through direct operating and capital expenditures, in conjunction with expenditures made through other organizations, they have a combined $199-million impact on the community each year.

“Northumberland County is unique and enviable in having two hospitals within its borders,” she added.

“Goods and services purchased have a ripple effect, creating approximately two jobs for every one hospital position – that's another 2,000 jobs within the community.”

Other benefits that might not be as evident at first glance include the decreased wait times – which potentially reduce lost productivity.

Facilities with the right equipment reduce transportation time and ambulance costs when a patient can be treated closer to home because of the local hospital having the right equipment.

“We hear all the time that the hospital is the reason people come to the community,” Davis said, producing testimonials from a manufacturer who said it figured in their decision of where to locate and a realtor who said it factored into home-purchasing choices.

CMH President and Chief Executive Officer Varouj Eskedjian noted that the area is highly attractive to urban retirees, as well as young families, for its safety and quality of life. The county's population is estimated to hit 98,000 by 2031.

“We need the county's support to capital funding to ensure we have the resources and technology in place to meet the current and growing needs of Northumberland and its aging population,” Eskedjian said.

“Although health care is a provincial responsibility,” NHH Foundation Executive Director Rhonda Cunningham said, “the Ontario government does not fund all aspects of hospital equipment needs. This is why hospital foundations in the early 1990s were formed.”

The ever-advancing technology in hospital equipment since that time has kept them busy, as they stepped up to an ever-more-active fundraising role. And in Northumberland, hospital foundations have met with astounding success.

The campaign launched in 2000 to build a new hospital (now NHH) exceeded its $12.5-million fundraising goal by more than $3-million. Six years later, they raised the $6-million needed for the first MRI in the region.

CMH Foundation Executive Director John Russell also had success stories to share, like the $2.5-million campaign that purchased a CT scanner.

“At the time, we were the smallest hospital in Ontario with a CT, which is now considered a standard of care for our hospital.”

Most recently, they raised $500,000 for a digital X-ray machine – on the heels of a $4-million campaign for needed medical equipment in 2017.

Both Davis and Eskedjian had high praise for the operational funding the province has provided. As the foundations mobilize to raise $28-million over the next five years, Cunningham said, the hospitals are even in a position to earmark annual amounts toward this equipment - “something that has not been possible for many, many years.

“However, we know additional funding will be required to offer Northumberland residents the care they deserve. We must extend the partnership beyond the provincial government and community fundraising to also include local government.”

The campaign is already gearing up at NHH, she said, and Hank Vandermeer has agreed to chair it until the last dollar is raised.

Early returns are good, she added. The NHH Auxiliary has committed $1-million for the Clinical Information System, and there have been additional gifts ranging from $250,000 to $1-million.

CMH is working on its own campaign, Russell added. And though it is in the early stages, it has raised more than $500,000 in donations.

“These are encouraging signs that the community will continue to stand with us, but the community cannot do it all,” Cunningham stated.

Council did vote to refer the request to the 2022 budget discussions that have just begun, but some comments were forthcoming.

Councillor Bob Sanderson said medical care was one of three key elements to the economic recovery we are hoping for, the other two being education and broadband access.

“I think the provincial government adequately funds basic care. Then, if we want to have something more than that, we have to roll up on our own,” Sanderson said.

He asked if this appeal was going to be made to the lower-tier municipalities – in effect, he said, double dipping.

“This is a specific ask of the county, at the county level,” Eskedjian insisted.

Asked the impact of another $1-million on the county levy, Director of Finance Glenn Dees said it would work out to 1.7% in 2022, or about $20.50 to the average home owner.

Deputy Warden Mandy Martin said it's not that simple. On top of that extra $20.50, she pointed out, other departmental budgets may rise – especially in departments that may be falling behind because they have cut their budgets before in order to minimize tax increases.

“I do have some concerns that the province isn't stepping up,” Martin said.

“Equipment that is required is absolutely essential. It's vital. It isn't a perk. And yet here we are being asked to fund it.

“That doesn't sit well with me, and I totally support what is being asked for, but there's only one taxpayer. Do we decide this is the priority and not all the other social services? The cost of that $20.50 comes out of something else, and that's what I have to weigh.”

“It would actually be my preference to add a separate levy item, as we do with the 1% infrastructure levy,” Councillor Brian Ostrander said.

“And when the program ends, it comes off for the next tax levy.”

Northumberland County Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Moore said the budget discussions that have begun will go on a few more months before a final draft of the 2022 budget is ready for county council in December.