A consulting architect’s report has created a focus for the TMH Implementation Task Force as it works to create a workable so called “health hub” at Trenton Memorial Hospital if at all possible.
The architect offers several options involving the integration of health service providers and their services and sharing space in one location, or hub.
The report offers 6 options, with the 6th one not requiring the health providers to share any space, but instead to just integrate services and back office functions.
Members of the task force agree that option 6 should be acted on no matter what comes of the process, calling it a necessary “phase one”.
Meanwhile, much of the discussion focused on the architect’s recommended option, which is known as option 3. It would involve renovations on the third floor of Trenton Memorial Hospital and a four storey addition to the hospital.
The architect estimates construction costs at $17 million for option 3. It’s seen as a relatively fast way to create a health hub while using up vacant space at TMH.
Options 1 and 2 involve a hub being set up only in the space now available at the hospital however that area is not nearly large enough to hold an amalgamation of the 5 health service providers now involved in the task force and have been rejected out of hand.
Option 4 is a new build on property away from the hospital, and while seen as a reasonable idea, is less favoured because there is no link to TMH.
Other options being looked at are a complete redevelopment of the Trenton hospital and including a hub, or building a hub separate from the hospital but on the same property.
Chair of the task force, Marsha Stephen, says the task force needs more information before making any decision, cautioning that some options involve a time line of 10 to 20 years, something that might not be palatable to the public.
The task force will continue to meet and expects to make public an interim report by mid-May and come up with a final business plan by the end of June.
The health service organizations that make up the TMH Implementation Task Force are the Southeast Community Care Access Centre, Quinte Health Care, Belleville/Quinte West Community Health Centre, Brighton/Quinte West Family Health Team, the Victorian Order of Nurses, and Addictions and Mental Health Services.
Community representatives come from the Trenton Memorial Hospital Foundation and OurTMH.
Overseeing the process is the Southeast Local Health Integration Network.