Photos courtesy Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare
You could look at local hospital care in Muskoka through the lens of what life here would be like without it. But with the ministry’s approval of two-campus redevelopment planning, maybe it’s better to focus on the positives and what the future holds. To understand the true value of hospital care in Muskoka, all one needs do is listen to what donors, physicians, business owners and even the province think of it.
Updated, brand-new hospital sites located in Muskoka’s Huntsville and Bracebridge communities will serve a wide and deep geography locally and regionally: from Burk’s Falls to East Parry Sound to Algonquin, Gravenhurst, and everywhere in between.
Key community and regional stakeholders have joined together to bring the vision of Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) to life.
Teaching at Muskoka’s Local Hospitals
Our emergency care department will continue to serve seasonal and full-time residents plus the over one million visitors to the area every summer. Diagnostics and imaging capacity will increase too, and for the first time in Muskoka, including MRI technology at the Huntsville Hospital MAHC site.
MAHC will continue to be one of Ontario’s most important teaching hospitals, preparing professionals and medical teams for a bright future in the area and beyond. As a teaching hospital, it is critical that we fund and acquire the latest medical technology: the tools these young professionals will use in the field wherever they go.
And there is a secondary benefit. As a medical educator, MAHC also gains an advantage in attracting professionals to the area, both for our hospitals and for family and specialized medicine.
Giving Inspires Us All
Our current team of physicians and medical staff understand that advantage and the importance of funding the best technology and equipment. That’s why MAHC enjoys one of the highest medical team donation rates in our history. Our doctors and nurses give, and in so doing, inspire us all.
Both hospital foundations, South Muskoka Hospital Foundation and Huntsville Hospital Foundation are experiencing the benefits of an inspired community. Donor campaigns and events are attracting full and part-time residents to the donor families of each hospital. Our teams are achieving their goals.
A significant contributor to the technology and equipment funding not covered by provincial or community and district taxes are the business owners of Muskoka and the region surrounding it. Our business owners see a vibrant, well-funded hospital as an economic engine. The hospital helps them attract and retain employees. It attracts economic activity to the area. It is the cornerstone of the communities in which our entrepreneurs do business. They get it and they give.
What’s Next for MAHC
The Ontario government and the wider healthcare profession have also given the MAHC team a thumbs up in two clear ways:
- MAHC has been approved to proceed with planning for two new hospitals, one in Huntsville on the current site and one in South Muskoka on a new, to-be-determined site. That is a significant and positive response to how well MAHC is supported by its communities.
- For the second four-year term in a row, MAHC has earned the highest possible rating from Accreditation Canada: Accredited with Exemplary Standing under the Qmentum accreditation program.
Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare is respected, widely supported and poised for a brilliant future that is unfolding now.
Having one of the province’s best hospitals in this rural, cottage, and outdoor playground is a blessing for everyone here today and everyone who will move here to live and raise families in the future. It is the center of health in Muskoka and our surrounding communities.
And that is the real value of our hospitals here. Your hospital here is close by and ready when you need it.
For more information about how you too can assist your local hospitals, whether through donations or volunteering, visit the Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare website at www.mahc.ca/en/donate-volunteer/.
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LuxuryMuskoka and Riley International Media are proud supporters of our local hospitals. We’re local, we live and work here, and have benefitted personally from the professional healthcare services our hospitals and their staff provide. Do you have a story you’d like to celebrate about your healthcare experience in Muskoka? If so, drop us a line.
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