This blog was written by Joy Russell one of the original from the yellow shirt brigade defending and protecting Douglas Memorial Hospital.. She asked if I could read it out at the Jan 11 Public Discussion but I was not able to; so this spot is dedicated for her hard work.!
> I planned on being at this meeting tonight but have picked up a bad virus and do not want to spread it.
> I have asked to have this read for me, by Heather or by my Yellow Shirt Brigade daughter Debbie Chapman.
> I have a Town of Fort Erie notice entitled: What we HAD ¬> to what we have NOW
> Past (1997) Present (2008) Future ( )
> 1. It listed How the DMH was the second lowest cost acute hospital and one of only two hospitals which had an average case cost of less than $2000 among 115 Ontario Hospitals re: 1997 Ministry of Health results.
> 2. In 1997 DMH was acknowledged as the low cost hospital in Ontario during an OHA Conference
> 3. Consistently ranked in top 4 for case cost data for acute IP activity
> 4,. Financial benchmark’s in 1998 for small /rural hospitals demonstrated that DMH was above the 90% performance level
> 5. DMH’s working fund (cash reserve) had more than tripled during the past 10 years to over $2.7 million.
> 6. Governance: Strong community Hospital Board that worked well with community partners and other affiliation arrangements with Welland and Niagara General Hospital.
>
> Now how can we NOT BE UPSET over the misuse of power by our Government and what we now see as manipulation by the wrongly elected government that we have, and no longer trust.
> This has been buried for too many years.
> We need honesty and transparency in our Country not greed and dishonesty!
> Many of us joined the Armed Forces to keep Canada and Canadians safe and what is going on now is a total disgrace and certainly a death threat to those who do not live in the “Golden Circle
>
> I have been reading and rereading letters written by me and posted, plus news articles, drives for help to save our healthcare.
> I have boxes of information and realized fully that we have certainly been taken over by our government and elected officials, and this has been going on for years.
> While I was still working at Port Colborne Hospital there were so many changes taking place quietly, like a cancerous growth not being found until it was too late to stop.
> At one stage we were called into a Department Head Meeting in Welland, where the plan to designate hospitals to be centres for certain issues, such as Hearts to one, surgical to another etc. and cutbacks regarding emergency rooms. New CEO’s and Staff changes began before 1955, when I retired.
> We have to continue to fight to get our health care and certainly our 24/7 Urgent Care back for the safety of our families, during these trying times.
> IF WE QUIT NOW WE WILL LOSE OUR RIGHTS, AND L1VES.
> Thank you for your participation.
> Joy Russell Yellow Shirt Brigade.
Heather this is just a test, which email is this going to?