With Minden ER closed, bid made to fill the void

A health-care group has pitched the idea of establishing an urgent care clinic to fill the void created by the closure of the Minden hospital’s emergency department.

Despite efforts to delay the closure by one year, the ER ceased operation Thursday at Haliburton Highlands Health Services’ Minden location. All emergency services have been transferred to its Haliburton site, about 25 kilometres away. Besides Haliburton County residents, the Minden ER has also been used by residents of northwestern Peterborough County and northern City of Kawartha Lakes.

“We are aware that ideally, the site would continue to operate as an emergency department — and we still hold out hope that this will be the case in the future — unfortunately, this is not a service we are able to apply for or deliver. In light of this, we felt strongly that the option of an urgent care clinic would provide the best opportunity to continue to have health care services locally for the residents of Minden Hills,” stated Kawartha North Family Health Team executive director Marina Hodson of the group’s recent funding request to the Ministry of Health.

As a resident of Minden Hills, Hodson is well-aware of the limitations of resources and how stretched health-care providers are, especially during the busy summer season. Establishing the clinic would help the Kawartha North Health Team, as well as its partners and community stakeholders to alleviate some of this burden.

It would provide for people who have unexpected, but non-life-threatening health concerns.