| Peterborough Regional Health Centre | |
| Peterborough Regional Health Centre | |
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Location in Ontario
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| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | 1 Hospital Drive, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada |
| Organization | |
| Care system | Public Medicare (Canada) |
| Hospital type | General |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Yes |
| Helipad | TC LID: CNU3 |
| Beds | 494 |
| History | |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Links | |
| Website | www.prhc.on.ca |
| Lists | Hospitals in Canada |
Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) was established in January 1999, following a directive from the Ontario Hospital Restructuring Commission. It is a combination of the former Peterborough Civic Hospital and St. Joseph's Health Centre, previously operating from those two locations in the City of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. All acute care services were provided at 1 Hospital Drive (the former Civic Hospital), located in the Central-West part of the city, while chronic, rehabilitation and palliative care services, along with some out-patient medical and surgical services, were provided from the 384 Rogers Street site (the former St. Joseph's Health Centre) located in the "East City" or Ashburnham neighbourhood of Peterborough.[1] Effective June 2008 all services of the PRHC (excluding some Outpatient Mental Health services and the Women's Health Care Centre) moved into a new 715,000 sq ft (66,400 m2) hospital building located directly in front of the old Civic Hospital, across from the Nicholls Building, which continued to house some Outpatient Mental Health services (including the Schizophrenia Clinic, Family & Youth Clinic and Psychiatric Services for the Elderly) until 2010.[2]
In late 2010, all patient services, including the Women's Health Care Centre, were moved into the new hospital building. Demolition of the Nicholls building began in fall 2011 and is slated for completion by December 2011.[3][4]
Contents |
The City of Peterborough (pop. 78,000), located in Central-East Ontario, is one of the largest cities between the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Ottawa, and is the business, culture, education, and health care centre of a greater region stretching from the Counties of Northumberland (south) to Haliburton (north), and the City of Kawartha Lakes (west) to Hastings County (east). The region covers a huge geographic area, and is home to a population of approximately 300,000.[5]
As a regional hospital, the PRHC receives many urgent and emergency transfers of seriously ill or injured patients from smaller hospitals in (and outside) its catchment area, including hospitals in Bancroft, Barry's Bay, Belleville, Campbellford, Cobourg, Haliburton, Lindsay, Minden Hills and Trenton.
PRHC is the region's second-largest employer with a staff of approximately 2,000 and about 350 physicians with various privileges. The hospital has more than 600 volunteers.
In the early 2000s a large number of family physicians gave up their admitting privileges at the PRHC, and the hospital opted for a Hospitalist system whereby the hospital has hired physicians onto staff, and those physicians now provide inpatient care to the majority of general medical patients. Unfortunately, the high pay rate and other factors, such as not having to maintain an office, lured numerous physicians away from their general practices in the community, exacerbating an already serious chronic shortage of primary care physicians.
In April 2010 the Central East Ontario Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) conducted a "peer review" of the entire operations of the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) with the explicit goal of finding permanent financial savings to address a chronic budget shortfall which PRHC has experienced for many years now. The review team filed their final report in late April, and that report stated that it was the teams opinion that PRHC is "over built" for the population the facility serves, and it is recommended that 151 staff and 71 beds (12 of them critical care beds) be eliminated.
Immediately upon release of the report there was a tremendous public backlash against what most people view as an inaccurate and distorted report: For example, the review determined that PRHC has too many bed/staff based on a service population of 80,000 when, in fact, PRHC serves a greater region covering a huge geographic area in Central East Ontario, with an estimated population of around 300,000. There is also concern regarding the impact that such cuts would have on the future of PRHC and whether it would even be able to continue in its role as a regional referral hospital, and the impact on the Peterborough and region economy.
As of May 2010 there is constant daily pressure on the LHIN and the Government of Ontario Ministry of Health to dismiss the reports recommendations, and instead to move more quickly on expanding the regional services provided at PRHC (e.g., introducing cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, and other programs). It is felt that if there are, in fact excess beds and staff, then they should be re-deployed to provide new services that are needed, rather than being cut. A blog forum has been established to share the latest information and opinions on this topic, and to act as a forum for protesting any cuts to health services in Peterborough.[6]