Status Report
CHC Approval
In September 2007, Community Care City of Kawartha Lakes received notice from Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman, indicating that the agency has been approved to lead the development of a Community Health Centre for the City of Kawartha Lakes. This approval culminated three years of work within the agency's strategic plan to investigate the feasibility of establishing a CHC in the City.
Access to Healthcare Services
According to provincial statistics, the number of family physicians in the Central East LHIN region is the second-lowest amongst the 14 Ontario LHINs, with 68 family and general practitioners per 100,000 people (compared to the Ontario average of 89 per 100,000).
The City is provincially designated as an Underserviced Area community for general practitioners. The June-September 2007 List of Areas Designated as underserviced identified a vacancy of 15 physicians.
Increasing access to care is one component of a CHC's operations. Promoting health is the other. The multidisciplinary team employed by a health centre is able to address both facets of health care delivery.
Current Status
Community Care, as sponsor of the CHC, has engaged the Osborne Group to undertake the Community Consultation Phase. It has struck a Steering Committee with majority representation drawn from the community to assist the Board in its task. The Community Engagement Phase is expected to culminate in a report to be presented to the Central East LHIN which will address several key areas:
- a potential governance structure for the CHC
- the services to be offered and what partnerships might develop for the delivery of those services
- a potential profile of the staff required for the delivery of the services
- a communications plan/strategy to prepare the community for the eventual opening of the health centre
- a merging sense of a facility required to house the services and a preliminary understanding of options that might exist in the community for determining a site for the CHC
