re: 'I was in extreme pain' - August 5, 2010

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To the Editor of the Sudbury Star,
(Published August 9, 2010)

In reading the article about the gentleman's complaint and Dr. Andrew Caruso's response, I noted that approximately 90 of the 429 beds in our new Sudbury Regional Hospital are presently being occupied by alternative-level-of-care patients. The ALC crisis has been swamping our hospital system in Sudbury for years, interfering with the ability of our medical community to provide timely health care to the remaining citizens.

We have waited for the Sisters of St Joseph facility in Chelmsford to be built and expansion at Pioneer Manor to be completed. In the interim, 136 beds were commissioned at the old Memorial Hospital Site to make up for the lower bed capacity at the new one site hospital, but I see that 36 of those beds were taken out of service last month without explanation and extended funding to keep the Memorial site open is not a sure thing.

Sudbury has an aging population and the capability to deal with older people who require and deserve ALC treatment has been lagging the curve for many years. When will the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care realize that providing Long Term Care is part of their title and mandate. Don't pass the buck by talking about community solutions, LHIN's or the Feds. Step up to the plate with concrete plans and funding to immediately start the process of developing facilities for each and every one of the ALC individuals we can reasonably expect to require the system today and in the foreseeable future. They owe it both to them and to the other patients whose care has been disrupted by the ALC impact on the hospital due to government inaction.

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Jim 'Skid' Robinson
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada