It looks like there will be NO de-almagamation of the Kincardine Hospital from the South Bruce Grey Health Centre.
That news coming from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference in Ottawa.
In an exclusive interview with Bayshore Broadcasting News — Kincardine Mayor Larry Kraemer told us he had a meeting with Ministry of Health Officials at AMO.
In those meetings, he was told to relay the news to the Friends of the Kincardine Hospital.
Kraemer says the group has been pushing for the de-almagamation to happen, as it’s not happy with how things are being run.
He says officials told him to suggest the group with the Board of Directors to improve the Kincardine site instead.
Kraemer says the Ministry supports the current structure and doesn’t believe de-almagamation is in the best interest of the patient.
Bayshore Broadcasting News contacted the Chair of the FOKH, Gregg McClelland, for reaction to this news, and instead broke the news to him.
McClelland is waiting to have a talk with the mayor before making any comments, though he did initially say he was not surprised and that the group will continue to fight for what it believes in.
Meanwhile, Kraemer also said the idea of a family health team in Kincardine is a long way off.
He says it’s not a priority of the Southwest Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) at this time, and expects to wait at least a year before the issue to be talked about again.