Former Saultite criticizes changes at Group Health Centre

SooToday.com has received the following letter to the editor from former Saultite, Clarence S. Dungey with some strong concerns about changes at the Group Health Centre and the direction it seems to be taking.

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Re: Tragic Transformation of the Sault Ste. Marie Group Health Centre into a “Medical Arts” Centre

My, what a difference a few decades can have on a community!

In a recent Easter holiday with family and friends in Sault Ste. Marie, the joy and comfort of the Easter weekend were replaced with confusing and, at times, hostile conversations of what was apparently the tragic transformation of the Group

Health Centre (GHC) from a full-service health centre into a “Medical Arts” Centre.

As a former citizen of the Sault, from the 1950s to 1982, I had the great privilege of knowing and working with exceptional community and labour leaders, such as John Barker, Paul Krmpotich, Dr. Tom Ferrier, Fred Griffith, John Harwood,

Les Woodcock, Jack Ostroski, Ken Delvecchio, and many more community-minded persons.

I was proud, as the first CUPE National Representative, and following in the footsteps of Paul Krmpotich as president of the Sault and District Labour Council, to be a part of the creation of the Group Health Centre.

It was a rough start when John Barker and his original committee, in the fall of 1959, had to face fierce opposition from the community doctors and the Ontario Municipal Board (on a zoning matter), but they continued the good fight and GHC officially came on stream on October 4, 1963, with the guiding operational principles that supported its motto of “warm, personal care”:

Availability
Accessibility
Affability

In November 2002, this is what the Honourable Roy Romanow found, and his report had high praise for the Group Health Centre during his cross-country tour of health service facilities.

And, let’s not forget the many tours of the GHC by numerous individuals from all over the world who have praised it as a model to emulate.

Visitors were advised that the three prime responsibilities of the Board of Directors were to:

Communicate with the members;
Formulate operational policies; and
Monitor the CEO’s responsibilities.

In a conversation with a prominent, informed member, he said, “looking at the present situation, unless the doctors have been afflicted with a social conscience, it is difficult to see how the board can function.” He went on to say, “in the past,

the medical group — with the exception of a few brief periods — has consistently regarded the board as being hostile to the physicians’ interest, or was simply irrelevant.”

Amongst the information given to me, was this quote: We trained hard – but it seems that every time we were beginning to form into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing.

And what a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing inefficiency, confusion, and demoralization.

- Satyricon, Gaius Petronius Arbiter, 1st Century A.D.

I was advised that “there are a number of responsible citizens and GHC members who believe that if history has any lessons, it is to demonstrate that patient representatives and doctors have a completely divergent view of where

the GHC should go.”

As stated in one of the many documents that have been given to me to review and refresh my memory, “a frequently occurring scenario is, the doctors object in terms of principle, and then explain their objections in terms of dollars.”

Many citizens of the Sault believe that the absence of transparency in this matter was not accidental.

It is with these observations that I ask the question, "Are there any persons, or group of persons, that are prepared to champion the need for a full and transparent investigation of the sequence of events that are leading to the creation of a “Medical Arts” Centre?”

As a former resident of Sault Ste. Marie, I remain a proud supporter of retaining important GHC services that were put in place by caring residents who have now passed on.

Their legacy is being dismantled. All I can say is shame on the current board.

Last, but certainly not least, where has MPP David Orazietti and the Minister of Health been during this deplorable nightmare? Clearly, they have a moral and legal responsibility to ensure that the important health services that have been eliminated are returned to the Group Health Centre and the citizens of the Sault.

It’s ironic that history will show that during Conservative/NDP tenures in the Sault, there was more appreciation shown for the significant service that the Group Health Centre has provided over the years.

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