By Emily Stonehouse
The topic of the aging population in Haliburton County has been a circulating conversation for years. Over the next 20 years, the population in Haliburton Highlands Health Services’ (HHHS) catchment area is expected to increase by 22 per cent, while it is predicted that the 80+ population will grow by 59 per cent over the next 10 years. “Our population is growing and it’s aging,” said HHHS CEO and President Veronica Nelson. “So we need to plan for our future.”
Nelson and her team are at the very early stages of what she shared could be a ten year project: the development of a formalized Master Plan for HHHS. Simultaneously, HHHS will be working on a Long Term Care (LTC) plan. “They go hand-in-hand,” said Nelson. “They are interdependent on one another, and you have to speak to all of your facilities.”
Nelson noted that rolling out the Master Plan is not a “one and done” initiative. There will be dedicated feasibility studies, traffic projects, and most importantly, a number of public consultation sessions to be able to hear from the community. “At each stage, we will look to the community. We want feedback to co-design our healthcare system.” Having a plan in place also lines HHHS up for funding opportunities through the ministry; a key component as the organization looks to expand and grow with the needs of the community.
HHHS launched community town halls when Nelson stepped into the role of CEO in 2023. At the time, the buzz in the county was around the recent Minden ER closure, which occurred prior to Nelson starting in Haliburton. Since then, she has diligently worked to establish transparency and open lines of dialogue with the community; even if it means she takes the heat from disgruntled residents. “There is no plan that makes everyone happy,” she noted. “We have to balance all the needs and desires, and it will continue to evolve.”
It is required by the Ministry of Health that each hospital site has a Master Plan in place. Despite the requirement, this is the first time HHHS has dove into the process, with Nelson at the helm. She shared that there are multiple stages of the planning process; with near-term and long-term goals and action-items rolled into place.
Some of the near-term initiatives include renovations and restructuring: items that need to be established to lay the foundation for long-term goals, which has a 30-year time frame.
A few of the gaps addressed in the near-term projects include space at the hospital for in-patient care. “We have patients that are being admitted to unconventional spaces,” Nelson said. “We don’t have enough beds, and we know that.” Currently, there are 15 beds available in the Haliburton ER, with an average of 18 patients at any given time. This results in increased “hallway medicine,” as staff try to keep up with the need.
The other area of focus is the future of LTC in the community. “We know that having small homes is not sustainable,” Nelson said. “We cannot continue to operate in this manner.”
Nelson noted that an efficient and sustainable LTC model consists of 160 to 192 beds. “Our goal is to hit 160,” she said. The average time to access a bed in a LTC home across the province is 200 days. For Haliburton, it’s 300 days, and for Minden, it averages 700. “We’re looking for innovative models to bring to the community,” Nelson said, in reference to expanding the LTC offerings across the county. The team at HHHS has also partnered with McMaster University to garner a collaborative approach to LTC in the region.
LTC is the first major issue that Veronica and her team will be tackling during the town hall meetings, which is slated for March 5 at their Minden site auditorium and virtually. The second topic of conversation, set for March 26, will really dive into what a hospital Master Plan looks like, and how it is rolled out.
The first session was held on Feb. 19, and provided a general overview of what the next steps are for the community wants and needs as the Master Plan takes shape. “Thank you to our incredible community for joining us in-person and virtually for our first Future of Care Forum,” said Laurent Ernst, communications and employee experience lead, and the moderator of the town hall sessions, said. “Our Master Planning efforts represent a unique and much-needed opportunity in the history of HHHS to rethink and revitalize our healthcare infrastructure.”
Ernst and Nelson are eager to co-design a healthcare system that is robust, and capable of meeting the needs of the community, both now and in the future.
“The whole process is iterative and long,” said Nelson. “If people feel they have missed an opportunity to speak, we’re really open to hearing from our community.”
Ernst is eager about what these next steps will look like for the collaborative efforts between HHHS and the community. “We have a desire to roll up our sleeves and work on this with the community,” she said. “It’s such a vital part of it all, and the only way forward is to do something different.”
For more information on upcoming town hall sessions, visit hhhs.ca/Master–Planning.
