The Grey Bruce Health Services  (GBHS) Board of Directors will meet on June 28th to consider feedback from recent stakeholder engagement sessions on potential changes to the surgery program, and to consider a recommended course of action.
At its meeting on February 22, 2017 the Board of Directors directed staff to seek feedback on consolidating all elective day surgeries at the Owen Sound Regional Hospital. Currently, GBHS offers elective day surgery in Meaford, Markdale, Southampton and Owen Sound.
After careful consideration of feedback from hundreds of internal and external stakeholders, the following  (abbreviated) recommendations have been prepared for consideration by the GBHS Board of Directors:
1. Maintain the operating room at Meaford hospital and integrate it fully into the GBHS surgical program, ensuring consistent corporate oversight and management
2. Immediately establish a working group of selected staff and physicians, co-chaired by the Chief of Medical Staff and the VP Patient Care and Quality, to develop and oversee the implementation of a work plan to:
a. Upgrade infrastructure and equipment in the Medical Device Reprocessing Department and the Surgery Department at Owen Sound Regional Hospital
b. Discontinue elective day surgery at Southampton Hospital and Markdale Hospital over the course of the next 12 months. Planning will begin imminently and the working group will confirm timelines.
c. Develop and implement a strategy to replace the fleet of anesthesia machines
3. Engage internal and external stakeholders in the development of a sustainability plan for GBHS, commencing in fiscal Q2 2017/18, which articulates and animates GBHS' stated strategic intention to be a leader in integrated rural health care. This will include, among other things, articulating the roles of each hospital and strategies to strengthen the resilience of each.
4. Continue to identify and implement internal efficiency/ cost savings initiatives that maintain quality of patient care with minimal staffing disruption, consistent with the corporation's Transformation Action Plan and Back to Balance initiatives.
5. Continue to advocate, in conjunction with stakeholders and community partners, for sustainable changes to the Provincial funding model that reflect the rural realities of Grey Bruce and the unique challenges of the GBHS operating model.
The full Board report, including further details on the above recommendations, is available on our website.
source: media release, GBHS