Residents of Kings County gathered in Montague tonight to discuss health care services in their community.
“I was pleased to see so many people out at tonight’s meeting,” said Minister Currie. “Our goal is to create a system as efficient and integrated as possible. This integrated approach is about using every facility to full capacity and providing the best possible care for Islanders.”
“Kings County Memorial Hospital is operating at 102 per cent capacity, as such there will be no change to KCMH services; however, a rapid response unit will be added to Kings County, as well as increased access to primary care services,” said Dr. Richard Wedge.
One of the key areas discussed at length was emergency services. Dr. Wedge reiterated that we currently have four emergency rooms (ERs) in Prince Edward Island and all four of these ERs will remain.
Matt Crossman, General Manager of Island EMS, also provided an overview on the new rapid response units, one of which will be located in the east and one in the west. These two units will be a medically equipped SUV, staffed by highly trained advance care paramedics. Since these rapid response units will not transfer patients, they will help to improve response times; in an emergency they can arrive and start treatment, and then hand-off when an ambulance arrives and return to service in the community.
Island EMS also outlined that they have 15 ambulances on the roads every day across the Island, and they respond to 14,500 calls per year. When required IEMS does call in additional resources and, if necessary, there are a number of extra ambulances available.
Other areas of discussion included palliative care at KCMH. Dr. Wedge confirmed that KCMH will have acute care; however, it will also have extended care. Health PEI supports both home palliative and in-patient palliative care in Kings County.
Questions were asked around changes to KCMH. Minister Currie assured the residents that there are no forthcoming changes to KCMH health care services and reassured residents that the ER would be remaining open at its current level.
“We are working to provide appropriate health care for every Islander, so that the services are there when they are needed most,” said Minister Currie
The final community information session will be taking place on Wednesday, May 1 at Three Oaks Seniors High School in Summerside. French translation will be available at this meeting. Additional information on Better Access can be found online at www.betteraccessbettercare.ca or by calling 1-800-236-5196.