Departures by staff at East End Family Health Team in Timmins have patients worried

Timmins -

The East End Family Health Team serves around 1,600 patients, plus Northern College students, and they've recently learned that Northern College has plans to modernize the team.

In a media release on Nov. 5, the college said:

"The retirement of some members of the existing health care staff provided the opportunity to implement changes designed to provide and expand care."

However, some patients said that message is different from what they heard at the end of September. That's when they received a letter from Dr. David Houston in which he said he is resigning, not retiring.

"This is one of the hardest decisions of my life ... I will only be scheduling appointments until Nov. 30," Houston wrote.

Tom Dolanjski, a pharmacist and a founding member of the team, said he was forced to leave.

“I did not leave of my own accord and that was one of the things that was initially said, that it was a mutual action, and by no means was it," Dolanjski told CTV News.

Another past team member who asked to remain anonymous told CTV news:

"Since February, a number of unilateral decisions regarding patient care have been made at the clinic without consultation. The team has always been devoted to providing patients with collaborative care, but unfortunately, the clinic no longer allowed for this. I, along with six other team members have left, not because we wanted to, but because we saw no other choice."

Patients said the team is "destroyed" and they are worried.

“It’s multi-faceted, so it deals with patients with complex issues who need all the team members to get that right outcome for that particular patient," said patient Ann Mallows.

Daryl Firlotte, another patient, said he's feeling left "high and dry." Firlotte said he has two sets of prescriptions from Houston.

"After they run out, I’ll have to call the clinic and see what arrangements they’re going to make or have to find a doctor on my own -- and doctors are short,” he said.

Northern College said its president doesn't directly oversee the operations at the East End Family Health Team, but at this time, she is the only member who will comment on the situation.

Aware of staffing changes

“This is part of team movement and part of overall talent movement in institutions," said Audrey Penner, president of Northern College.

The Ministry of Health said it is aware of the recent staffing changes. In an email to CTV News, Bill Campbell, media relations with the Ministry of Health communications division, wrote:

"Family Health Teams (FHTs) are independent corporations governed by boards of directors and funded by the Ministry of Health through an accountability agreement. The ministry does not play a part or intervene in FHT employee-employer relationships or physician decisions related to the management of their medical practices.

"The ministry is aware of the recent staffing changes at East End FHT. The ministry has been meeting regularly with the college and has been assured that steps are being taken to ensure they can deliver needed programs and services to patients while recruitment for nurse practitioners and a new physician is ongoing."

"We were looking at having two doctors in there," added Penner. "So now we have interest from three and in addition, there’s a fourth doctor that may be interested, but still time will tell on that one. If patients have concerns, we encourage them to contact the East End Family Health Team directly."

 

And in an email to CTV News on Monday, Penner declined an interview but did write:

"While there has been some changeover in staffing at the EEHFT, we are grateful for the contributions of those who have brought us to this point and are working diligently to prepare the clinic for a new phase in its history. However, we can say that there are no current vacancies. Some positions are in fact under review as to need given demand has been low for specific services. It would breach our privacy policy to speak directly to HR issues which are private matters related to staffing changes."