LHIN launches 10-year plan to re-shape health care
LHIN CEO says 10-year plan aims to provide more care in the community for patients and reduce unnecessary hospital visits
The Northwest Local Health Integration Network has launched a 10-year plan to coordinate health-care services in northwestern Ontario.
LHIN CEO Laura Kokocinski called the plan a "blueprint" and said it contains 44 recommendations by consultant Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
The blueprint suggests ways to reduce demand for hospital services, lower the number of emergency department visits and improve "access to care and delivery of services in the community."
Kokocinski said health care has to be managed more efficiently — both to save costs and to give patients better care.
Northwestern Ontario has a high rate of preventable and chronic disease.
Hospital care and emergency room visits are huge cost drivers, and the region has the highest rate of acute hospital use in the province. The number of repeat emergency department visits are 28 per cent higher than the provincial average.
Kokocinski said the 10-year plan aims to provide more care in the community for patients and reduce unnecessary hospital visits.
She said it would also cut down on duplication of services by promoting coordination among hospitals, clinics and other health care providers.
That would happen through 14 local health hubs, as well as integrated district networks in Thunder Bay, Rainy River, Kenora and the northern communities.
Kokocinski said the networks will help hospitals and clinics work together to recruit doctors and nurses and come up with regional solutions like telemedicine, so patients don't have to travel as much for treatment.