Restructure Brampton Hospitals to fix Brampton Health Care Crisis
Restructure Brampton Hospitals to fix Brampton Health Care Crisis
Please be advised that we are starting the following petition “Restructure Brampton Hospitals To fix Brampton Hospital care Crisis”.
Currently, the management of Brampton Civic Hospital is in the process of transitioning the CCC. This service facility specializes in providing long term care for patients who have Tracheostomy tubes that allow them to breathe as well as receive ventilation. The current facility houses a total of 25 beds, half of which are dedicated to the above group and the remaining for slow stream rehabilitation. The hospital is yet to propose formal solutions for these patients but their two suggestions are:
A Long-Term Care Center
Another Hospital with an operating CCC
Both of these solutions are not ideal as they will have negative effects on patient outcomes. Closing the unit where patients completely depend on the individualized care negatively impacts the rehabilitation of these patients since the new care provider has no prior knowledge of their care routine and previous health history.
Firstly, Long Term Care Centres are not equipped to provide the care required for these patients. The purpose of the CCC according to the hospital website is to “provide specialized or technology-based care to patients whose needs, at the time of admission, cannot be met in the community or in a long-term care facility.” These centres lack the ability to provide this ‘specialized’ care with the effectiveness of a hospital. the long term care centres are not designed to take care of Tracheostomy patients, mainly because their breathing needs to be monitored closely. Secondly, any alternative Hospital will be outside of Brampton. This will make it difficult for family members to provide continued care for their loved ones especially when their involvement can aide in the patient’s recovery and well being.
A preferable solution to the problem would be to expand the capabilities of the Peel Memorial Hospital as promised by the Provincial Government. Peel Memorial is currently operating as an Urgent Care Clinic, offering only limited services when compared to a traditional hospital when it was previously a full capacity hospital. If the City of Brampton is supposed to be a world class city in Canada then why are we reducing the quality of health care services provided to its residents. When compared to our neighbouring City of Mississauga, they already had two fully functional hospitals in the city when their population was less than the current levels of Brampton at this time which sits at over 700,000 people. Why is the City of Brampton facing such an inequality and injustice?
If the fundamental issue is to handle a surge of community patients for other needs, such as accommodating them for COVID-19 then are we not acknowledging that Brampton Civic Hospital is already over capacity. It is not a sustainable strategy to sacrifice long term care options to accommodate short term solutions. The government should mandate that any additional funding and increases in capacity come from expanding Peel Memorial Hospital versus making cuts in existing care to the detriment of patients. It is time for all levels of government to step up and ensure we do the right thing. Please sign this petition so we can save the CCC and make Peel Memorial Hospital fully functional to meet the healthcare needs of Brampton residents.
references
picture credit-https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/brampton-civic-hospital-hallway-patients-1.4379032