The church, the state and the health-care system are set to collide in a rural Ontario town, where a large group of residents is trying to stop a secular hospital from becoming a Roman Catholic institution.
After more than a year of private meetings in Midland, the secular Huronia District Hospital and the Roman Catholic Penetanguishene General Hospital voted last month to amalgamate.
But what came as a surprise to both Midland physicians and community members was that they decided to do so as a Catholic organization.
If Huronia is stripped of its non-denominational title, services that conflict with the religion will also be cut, including abortions, counselling for AIDS patients, birth-control options, vasectomies and tubal ligations. All are currently offered at Huronia.
The repercussions of the June 15 vote have been widespread.
Four members of the Huronia board have resigned, all of its physicians have threatened to leave, and more than 1,000 people in this community of 16,000 have taken out annual $5 corporate memberships for the hospital board in order to vote against the proposed plan.
Hundreds were expected at a town-hall style meeting Thursday night in this community on the southern shores of Georgian Bay.
Allan Shakes, who resigned as chairman of the Huronia board as a result of the vote, said from his Midland home that the community would be left without many essential services. “I couldn't stand behind the board's decision. I could not support it.”
Services that have been available for decades at the Huronia District Hospital will be on the chopping block if a Catholic structure is approved.
“It's a moral stand. It's a question of access,” local resident Diane Greenfield said. “You don't earn rights historically over time and then take them away over night.”
Kathy Willis, executive director of the Rosewood Shelter for abused women, said that with no public transportation in the community, those who rely on the affected services most likely won't be able to get to another hospital – the closest being 45 minutes away in Barrie.
The 34 physicians at the hospital – which sees about 40,000 patients a year – met with the board this week and made clear that they don't support its decision.
“For a young girl to come in on a Friday night and say, ‘The condom broke. Can I get the morning-after pill?' the only places you can get it in this town are the public health office, open nine to five weekdays, or the emergency department. So if we cut that off ... it would be disastrous,” said Martin McNamara, an emergency room physician and president of the hospital's medical staff.
He cited the region's low socioeconomic status and the high number of unplanned, teenage pregnancies.
Dr. McNamara said that if it comes down to it, physicians will resign from the hospital, but will continue their private practices.
“If you lose the physician's goodwill, the hospital will close. There's no doubt in my mind.”
Acting chairman of the board Ron Crane acknowledged that if the hospital does become Catholic, abortions and many other reproductive services will no longer be offered. Tubal ligations and hysterectomies would be conducted only if there was a medical reason to do so.
“Someone who wants a morning-after pill may not be able to get it dispensed at the hospital, but they can certainly get it dispensed at a local pharmacy with their doctor giving them a script for it.”
Mr. Crane said that during the year of discussions, alternative possibilities, including making Penetanguishene non-denominational, were considered, but this was the only one that made economic sense.
“We can't justify going non-denominational from a business point of view, but there's a good business case for going the other way,” Mr. Crane said, noting that Penetanguishene has a surplus of $3.5-million that would help reduce Huronia's $5-million deficit.
According to Mr. Crane, the only way to make Penetanguishene non-denominational would be to purchase the property for $6- to $8-million.
Given that the hospital board must give 60 days advance notice, and it wants to give the public as much information as possible so that it can make an informed decision, Mr. Crane said a meeting for members will likely be set for some time in November.
“It's not a fait accompli. There is consultation that will go on and it will be a democratic process. ... If they vote against it, that'll be the end of it.”
