It was a great turn out at the Fort Erie Public Healthcare discussion last night. We had a number of speakers to try to provide information so people could make informed decisions. They presented based on their own experiences with healthcare and the work that they have done. These are their comments:
Mayor Redekop said that healthcare was a priority for the town and that there was a pledge to make sure everyone would have access to healthcare. They are working to attract more Doctors and healthcare workers to our area and they will continue to make room for new members.
MPP Gates said he would continue to push the government to provide 24/7 care in Fort Erie and that Niagara Health needs to stop attacking Fort Erie along with the PC Government. The Government can reverse course on Bill 124 that limited wage increases for our healthcare workers and Bill 60 that works for the privatization of healthcare. Wayne recognized the Yellow Shirt Brigade that fought relentlessly in the past to keep our hospital open and he recognized those in the audience that continue to work with us.
Heather Kelley from Fort Erie Healthcare SOS spoke on a number of issues that will be covered under a separate blog. We conducted a straw vote with a show of hands to show how many present wanted to keep Fort Erie Urgent Care open. Overwhelmingly people want our urgent care reopened 24/7. On the second vote people said they wanted Douglas Memorial returned to a full service hospital.
Heather will report separately on what she had to say to the crowds. "Stay tuned"
Jennifer Dockstader of the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre said that she lived in the U.S. and knows first hand the cost of healthcare. She noted that the indigenous community have experienced being disenfranchised and we need to listen to their experience so we can stop the actions before they spread out to more and more people as they are now. She noted that it is her traditional belief that she must care about others and she must speak out when people even outside her community experience poor care. There are many people that do not have transportation and this prevents them from getting the care they need. Niagara Health is now merged into the Niagara Ontario Health Team and she has made it her mandate to be a representative of Fort Erie on that team because otherwise Fort Erie drops off the map. She says we deserve a hospital.
Natalie Mehra of the Ontario Health Coaltion thanked Sue Hotte of the Niagara Health Coalition for all of her work and efforts. She said we need to talk about who and what changes need to take place to change this. She noted Fort Erie hospital had no deficits prior to amalgamation into the Local Health Integrated Network (Niagara Health). Closures are getting worse throughout Ontario. When inflation is running at 5.6% and healthcare is only receiving.5% it becomes quite evident why we have problems. She suggested:
We get divorced from NHS and we need to talk about how that will work
It is the Provincial Government that is ultimately responsible for healthcare and it is the Minister of Health that can stop the closures
Make this an election platform and hold the candidates feet to the fire - the PC's are holding a meeting Feb 1 or 2 in Niagara Falls and we all need to rally outside but we need to be clear WHAT WE WANT!
Loretta Tirabassi from the Ontario Nurses Association Local 26 talked about the hours and shortages that workers have experienced. She talked about the lack of respect the Government has shown healthcare workers by continuing to appeal Bill 124 and her local is ready to fight back against the closures.
Brenda Allan from OPSEU 215 representing professional staff in hospitals spoke about the lack of respect shown to her worker base and how shortages make delays unbearable. We need to continue to send letters and encourage the Government to increase their worker base and to show respect for her workers.
Sue Hotte from the Niagara Health Coalition offered a song and more importantly talked about thier ongoing campaign to sign the letters addressed to the Premier and the Minister of Health. We will continue our efforts to reach out to as many people as possible with both the letters and petitions and they will be presented to the Government in the near future. She then asked everyone to pull out their cell phone and text the Premier at 647-612-3673 and tell him we want our Urgent Care open 24/7 now.
We then opened the floor for comments and questions and these are the responses we received. Panelists responded where appropriate:
People that do not have a vehicle run into high costs just to get to hospitals often choosing not to get the care they need. The speaker wanted to know who was going to pay the bill.
With 400,000 people moving in it creates problems when our healthcare has failed to keep up. It was suggested that people pass away even when close to a facility because they can't be seen. Even when using the Virtual Care provided they often recommend that the person be seen at an Urgent Care. Another reason why we need to keep our Urgent Care open 24/7. We need more Nurse Practitioners so people can be seen, people are dying and we need more help.
We need to protest at Niagara Health. The speaker had just received urgent care in Fort Erie and was seen within 1/2 hour and he credited them for saving his life and allowing him to be with us this evening.
Healthcare is in deep trouble and have prevented the workers from being able to speak out about their very serious concerns
Do not privatize. It is not the solution. Cutbacks have led to poor services and workers need our involvement. Our system needs more than to be strictly business focused, it needs to take care of people. We need more staff. We are a border town that has an influx of residents in the summer. We live on a lake that many people use for recreation and risk the potential of injury requiring immediate assistance from our Urgent Care
Our town is constantly growing and yet we are losing services in healthcare and at the same time we lost our public transportation. The speaker noted that we have lost critical healthcare access ability. Do we call an ambulance if there is no one else and take away someone else's emergency situation ?
Every elected representative for our town needs to make sure that protecting our hospital is a priority and if it's not then replace them. Amalgamation did nothing for us.
Our walk-in clinics are overwhelmed. Doctors are overwhelmed. We keep building houses and bringing in more people without having the services for them to see a Doctor, to receive Urgent Care or transportation to get around as well as a lack of affordable housing.
After the last speaker a 50/50 draw was held and the winner was Ed Mehlenbacher who kindly donated $195.00 back to the Niagara Health Coalition
A big Thank you to all that attended we want to hear from you and we want to share your thoughts and opinions - you can respond to our blog or on Facebook
Thank you to all of our volunteers who helped to make this meeting happen. Stay tuned for more events and more opportunities to fight back
Thank you to the speakers, you provided insight into this very serious issue.
Please Note:
Niagara Health did not bother to respond to our invitation to hear from the community. Shame on them they need to ensure healthcare is accessible for everyone!!!!
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