Big LHIN honcho tight-lipped about Matthews Memorial

Okay, we tried today to get Rémy Beaudoin, chief executive officer of the North East Ontario Local Health Integration Network (NE LHIN), to talk about the proposed closure of Matthews Memorial Hospital in Richards Landing.

No cigar.

When asked by SooToday.com about any tie-ins between the proposal to close the only hospital on St. Joseph Island and today's announcement of new Ontario government initiatives to improve emergency room performance and access to family health care, Beaudoin said that the videoconference was an information session only.

The NE LHIN was not prepared to answer questions today regarding Sault Area Hospital or its affiliates, he said.

Beaudoin helpfully suggested that questions on such matters might be answered by visiting the NE LHIN website.

Cool.

We went there and searched the site for the word "Matthews."

We found one reference to "Matthews" on the NE LHIN site.

It seems that someone from Sudbury Regional Hospital named Barb Matthews attended a LHIN-sponsored seniors' health summit last March at the Sault's Holiday Inn Waterfront.

Having learned everything we ever wanted to know about Barb Matthews from Mr. Beaudoin's informative website, we thought our readers might be interested in some details of the initiatives announced today:

These include:

- Public Education - In order to be treated sooner, health care seekers will have available to them expanded online and telehealth initiatives supported through education campaigns, including television, print and inline advertising, as well as outreach to health care providers through direct mail.

- Health Care Connect - Scheduled for a February launch, Health Care Connect will refer patients without a family doctor to health care providers (doctors, nurse practitioners, etc). Individuals with the highest health care needs will be given priority. Health care providers will be offered incentives to accept new patients.

- Time Spent in ER Public Reporting - Through public reporting on ER wait times at www.ontariowaittimes.com, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care hopes to better target areas in need of improvement for both patients that require extended treatment or admission to hospital, and those with minor, uncomplicated conditions.

Click here to view the PowerPoint presentation from today's meeting.

Beaudoin also suggested that further questions we might have might be answered by calling 1-866-906-5446.

Sorry, Rémy.

We didn't bother.