Public meeting tonight on Chesley emergency department closure

It’s expected to be standing room only Tuesday night, as Chesley residents get to voice their concerns about the closure of their town’s emergency department.

“I feel like we’re being picked on in our own community,” says Chesley resident, Nathan Rhody. “Our hospital corporation has four sites, maybe they could rotate these closures, to make it easier our community, especially.”

Chesley’s emergency department has been closed since Oct. 7, due to a shortage of nurses, say officials with the South Bruce Grey Health Centre, who along with Chesley, operate hospitals in Walkerton, Durham, and Kincardine. The closure, which is slated to last until, at least Dec. 2, has prompted concerns about the long term future of the hospital in Chesley.

“There’s no intention for us to close the Chesley Hospital,” says South Bruce Grey Health Centre, president Michael Barrett.

Still, community concerns linger, as residents gather Tuesday at 7 p.m. for a public meeting on their hospital’s future.

“There’s still hope. We have a very strong foundation, and doctor recruitment. We have many great volunteers in our community, so there’s still a chance, but we definitely need help,” says Arran-Elderslie Mayor, Steve Hammell.

That help, may not come from agency nurses, for much longer. Although, they have been covering shifts to keep Chesley, and other rural hospital ER’s open, the shine is wearing off the temporary and transient nurses.

“Agency nurses are really a long term recipe for failure. Although they fill a current demand, we’re placing them side by side with our own staff, and they don’t feel valued, when we’re paying more for the agency nurses,” says Barrett.

“The agency nurse was an important part to get us through Covid, but I don’t see that as the long term answer,” says Hammell.

Hospital officials are expecting an earful at tonight’s public meeting, as the residents fight for their hospital’s future, as they fought to keep Chesley’s schools from being closed, a little over 10 years ago.

“It’s another opportunity for our community to rally around one another, and go to the hospital corporation, and say we’re not going to put up with this anymore,” says Rhody.

Tuesday’s public meeting on the future of healthcare in Chesley, starts at 7 p.m. at the Chesley Community Complex.