Jessica Smith
If you are over 16 years of age and live in Atikokan (P0T1C0), the family health team wants your input on a future clinic location.
The team is mailing out surveys this week to determine whether residents would prefer a downtown location or adjacent to the Atikokan General Hospital.
“The survey will be very simple and there will be space for any comments they want to add,” said FHT administrator Cathe Hoszowski.
FHT board members met two weeks ago and “at the end of the day they decided they wanted to hear from the community. This is such an important issue we want to make sure we reach as many people as possible who care about this issue. What’s best for them as a patient? What would suit their needs in the course of their daily living, in terms of seeing their physician, pharmacist, mental health worker or dietitian?”
The downtown core location could be either a new or renovated building, including an expanded Marks St. facility. A clinic located next to the AGH would house all family health team staff and related health care services (the pharmacy, Community Counselling) in a campus style setting.
What isn’t an option, however, is doing nothing, something both the team and Council agree upon. An inadequate lift makes it difficult for people with mobility challenges to access either the upper or lower levels (a growing issue, now that the Pharmacy no longer provides deliveries) and the building also has inadequate office and clinical space.
The options of either remaining downtown or adjacent to the hospital have been identified as the most feasible locations, said FHT administrator Cathe Hoszowski and once the board decides, based on community input, which option is the best, it will present its funding proposal to the Ministry of Health. She said there may be pros and cons at either location because there “is some history to having it in the downtown core,” and some may feel it easier to come downtown for a medical appointment and also shop or go to the Post Office. On the other hand, some may feel that being near the hospital is more convenient in terms of transportation, if referred for lab work or X-ray.
If the majority wants to keep the clinic downtown, the FHT will then identify what the Town can do for them in terms of upgrading the existing facility, while also considering other locations. Vice-chair Mike Lewis said the board has not conducted a thorough assessment of possible downtown options, including either buildings or vacant lots, because they first want to see what the majority of survey responses indicate.
Council however, clearly wants the FHT to stay at the Town-owned Marks St. clinic and passed a resolution June 14 to work with the team to pursue Ministry funding to upgrade the current facility. Mayor Dennis Brown said once the Town knows the FHT plans to stay at the Marks St. facility, it would install a full elevator “as soon as we can” and support expanding the upper level to encompass clinic staff, clinical and office space and the pharmacy.
After several meetings with the FHT, Council directed chief building official Garth Dyck to look into the potential to expand the building, and his report indicates it would be possible to expand the upper level to 7,215 square feet. Although only a preliminary analysis, that additional space – while less than the 10, 000 square feet the FHT would prefer – might be sufficient, said Hoszowski.
Mayor Brown said the Town “is ready to move forward in earnest; we know what’s required, all we need to firm up is the location.”
He said the building was expanded in the early 1990s and was structurally sound then; once a commitment to go ahead with expansion, the Town will hire a structural engineer to reassess the building. He added that the downtown location is convenient for most and “if the family health team doesn’t stay there, it will create vacancies and that’s a burden on taxpayers.”
Parking has been a concern at the current site, particularly the past couple of years with the Main Street and Town Hall construction projects. As part of the latter, the Town is creating 25 paved parking spaces across the street from the Clinic, and is also working with the tenants there to designate more staff parking behind Town Hall.
Participants have until August 13 to return their survey forms to one of the banks, the upper or lower level of the clinic, or the Home Support office (at Fotheringham Court). Those with mobility difficulties can call the FHT (597-8781) for pick-up. (If someone doesn’t receive a survey, call the FHT).
“It really is an individual choice, and that’s what the board wants to hear: what do the majority of people want to do and then that feedback will then drive the board’s decision on what the next steps are in terms of a building,” said Hoszowski.
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