Several executives from the Espanola Regional Hospital & Health Centre and local social services met with the Espanola council last night.
The focus of the presentation was the creation of the Ontario Health Team for the LaCloche Foothills region as mandated by the province just before the pandemic in 2020.
Team leader, Nancy Lacasse, says the focus is to form an integrated system of health care taking in Espanola, Nairn & Hyman, Baldwin and Sables-Spanish Rivers.
She says the government has given the proposed team interim status while it develops its framework, and as part of that, is asking the council to delegate representation as a partner and team member.
Lacasse says they will meet with Sables-Spanish Rivers tonight and eventually the LaCloche Foothills Mayors Association to complete the partnership process.
Currently, only Algoma and North Bay have a fully integrated Ontario Health Team, but it is the government’s intent to have all the provincial teams in place within one to two years.
