Fallout from QHCs cuts has begun
Administrator | Jun 02, 2013 | Comments 9
Fallout from QHC’s disproportionate cuts at PECMH has begun.
After careful consideration Dr. Lisa Forster and Dr. Darren Lett will be closing their practice in Picton as of August 28th, 2013. They have decided to leave Prince Edward County due to recent changes at the hospital. They are trying to find a replacement and will be working closely with the Prince Edward Family Health Team over the next couple of months to facilitate a plan for transition or coverage. Letters were sent out to their patients last week.
I do not fault them for making their decision. They have spent many years in medical school learning their skills and of course they wish to keep them up. Dr. Forster delivers babies and Dr. Lett is a highly skilled emergency room physcian and is presently head of the emergency dept. at PECMH. They also share a family practice.
As you know QHC has indicated it is considering closing maternity and the endoscopy program in the operating room at PECMH. If these cuts take place over the next year PECMH will be left with 12 beds, an eEmergency department and a radiology department. Not a very attractive scenario for any physcian that is thinking of starting a practice in Prince Edward County.
Recruitment of new doctors may prove very difficult in the future. I understand that in a few years, two more doctors may be leaving the County as a result of QHC’s severe cuts to our local hosptial. PECMH will eventually be losing 40 per cent of its beds as opposed to Belleville where 5 per cent of their beds will be lost. You should all be aware that in the next 5 to 10 years approximately five doctors will be retiring. I suspect that some physcians will also be leaving Trenton as a result of service cuts to their hospital.
Filed Under: Letters and Opinion • News from Everywhere Else
Here’s the link to Facebook again.
P.O.O.C.H. is starting a new Facebook page here –
https://www.facebook.com/CountyPOOCH?ref=hl
We need your personal stories about your experiences with Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital. Your stories become part of the strategy that P.O.O.C.H. will be incorporating into a business strategy. Like us on Face book and tell us your story. ALSO, please tell all your friends to LIKE us on Facebook so that they can share their stories. Tell us your concerns about the ongoing downsizing of our beloved PECMH. Thank you. … Wolf
Good luck in the future to Lisa & Darren; you will be missed. We will continue the fight for health services here, our future depends on quality care. Thank you..
This is sad news to our community. Dr Lett and Forster will be missed. Thank you Fran and Countylive.ca for making the public aware of what’s happening. I am afraid that this may only be the beginning of the adverse effects our County will experience from Quinte Health Care’s decisions.
Heather writes: “Also the loss of jobs for their office employees makes this an even bigger loss. Jobs in the County are not always easy to find so this is another blow to the area.”
Heather makes an excellent point. Shrinking our hospital and losing doctors will have a direct economic impact on Prince Edward County.
People who return, or relocate, to PEC always ask about medical and hospital services. They want to be assured that they have access to health/hospital services if the move to The County.
When doctors leave The County….this negatively impacts economic development and jobs.
Right now there are several local, as well as out-of-town residential developers who want to build in The County.
Wellington is slated for a 100 home development on Consecon Street. The Belleville Road is slated to have an even larger residential development with a golf course. Plus, more homes are scheduled to be built at Wellington on the lake. This means important jobs for excavators, carpenters, roofers, electricians, plumbers, landscapers to name just a few. The County needs development fees for these projects. Gone ! Gone ! Gone !
Who is going to buy these retirement homes if there are no hospital services? Why would a developer go ahead with building homes when doctors are leaving and our hospital has no beds?
I strongly urge CountyLive readers to write to Eric Hoskins, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment about your/our concerns. The Minister is also a doctor. You can email him… ehoskins.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org You can also Twitter him …@DrEricHoskins
Make sure when you write or email that you also copy the Premier kwynne.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org and the Minister of Health… dmatthews.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Wolf – P.O.O.C.H.
Sad news to hear, loosing two very talented and personable Dr.’s is a great loss to the County and PECMH. Also the loss of jobs for their office employees makes this an even bigger loss. Jobs in the County are not always easy to find so this is another blow to the area. My best wishes to all in their future endeavours. It’s time QHC woke up and realized that it is not only Belleville that deserves great medical services but also Picton and Trenton. Keep up the fight for our local services!
Drs.Forster and Lett are our family physicians and to say that they are class acts would be an understatement. We understand while regretting their decision. Dr. Forster also enjoys delivering babies; Dr.Lett is also an outstanding Emergency Department physician. How can a young couple be professionally fulfilled given the recent QHC announcements affecting PEC Memorial Hospital? We join all of their patients in saying that they will be missed and wish them even greater fulfillment in whatever future they have chosen.
To bad that the Lhin and admin at QHC will not expérience any cuts to their funding. Too many bureaucrates making bloated salariés.But what can you expect from this bunch of Belleville-centric bean counters
No one can blame two young personable doctors for wamting to move on to a hospial where they can have more advantages and are able to give their patirnts more extensive care.
I went to outpatients the other day and dr Lett was on amd i was impressed that we had such a fine capable young man in Picton. And I was only waiting a half hour. If I had gone to Belleville , I would have been there all day