A message to the citizens of Sault Ste. Marie. It's from Louise

SooToday.com has received the following letter from the new chief executive officer of the North East Local Health Integration Network:

************************* Dear citizens of Sault Ste. Marie:

There have been recent statements made regarding the North East LHIN’s commitment to rural health care.

A more false statement could not be made.

More than 40 percent of the 550,000 people served by your LHIN live in small rural communities; how could we not work with almost half of our region’s population to develop solutions?

The North East LHIN is responsible for more than 200 health service providers – many of whom serve pockets of people living far away from a hospital, a specialist, geriatrician or psychiatrist.

We deliver care to a region that is huge, dispersed, unique, diverse, and indeed rural and remote.

As a born and raised Northerner, and relatively new CEO, I spent 12 years working with the people of Northern Ontario and Sault Ste. Marie in community economic development.

I assure you that your LHIN will sit down with members of your community to help resolve your ALC challenges, invest in ehealth technologies, and integrate services so you can more easily find the health care you need.

In fact, today I am in Sault Ste. Marie accompanied by my senior advisor and board chair to talk about these very issues with the people of your community.

You cannot compare the Sault Ste. Marie of today to the Sault Ste. Marie of 10 years ago.

Health care today is delivered in a very different environment.

On March 25, 2010, the province stated that 46 cents of every provincial dollar is currently spent on health care and if left unchecked, this figure could rise to 70 cents within 12 years.

It is clear; we all need to re-think how health care services are delivered and by whom.

Hospitals cannot sustain themselves as a place to go for everything and everyone.

We need to work in partnership.

No one individual or organization will transform our health care system, however, together we can make a difference if we focus our collective energies on building made-in North East Ontario solutions. Louise Paquette Chief executive officer North East Local Health Integration Network

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