Citizens join forces to fight against rural ER closures
Residents in both Chesley and Minden, Ont. are kindred spirits. Chesley has a part-time emergency room, open Monday to Friday, during daytime hours. Minden on the other hand is facing something worse: a full emergency room closure, starting on June 1.
“What they’re doing in Minden is going to be the new game plan that’s going to affect all of Ontario,” said Minden resident, Patrick Porzuczek.
Minden citizens, fighting to save their hospital, recently stopped in Chesley to let Midwestern Ontario residents know that their community could be next to lose their ER completely.
“Seven weeks ago, we weren’t thinking about it. We thought everything was, at least, okay. We never even had an emergency room closure,” said Minden resident, Richard Bradley.
Along with Chesley, which has seen rolling emergency department closures since 2019, Clinton hasn’t had a 24/7 ER for the past three years, Wingham has seen partial ER closures every weekend this month, and hospitals in Seaforth and St.Marys have also seen temporary closures to their hospital’s emergency rooms over the past two years.
A lack of nurses and doctors are being blamed for the closures.
“We pay the same taxes as anybody else, and we have a right to safe and accessible health care, and we demand that we have it,” said Bradley.
Minden and Chesley’s citizens groups said it’s time for communities with compromised hospitals to stand up together, and demand better health care in rural Ontario.
“If we go down to Queen’s Park, and we ask for priority attention one at a time, we’re easy to pick off because we’re small. But, if we all go down together, that’s a much larger number and we think that might really be effective,” said Brenda Scott, who helped found the Chesley Hospital Community Support group.
While acknowledging the ER pressures in Ontario, the Ministry of Health said they’re doing all they can to help small hospital ERs stay open.
“The Emergency Department Locum Program provides urgent locum coverage to designated hospitals facing significant challenges covering emergency department shifts,” explained Hannah Jensen, press secretary for Minister of Health, Sylvia Jones. “Last year, through this program, nearly 1,500 emergency room closures were diverted.”
“This is a fight, not just for Chesley and Minden. This is a fight for every community in this province," added NDP MPP, Chris Glover. "They need to be watching because their ER, their hospitals, could be next.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.