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Arran-Elderslie mayor speaks to health minister about Chesley hospital
Posted: August 23, 2025
(August 22, 2025) By: Gary Cowan, Owen Sound Sun Times
Arran-Elderslie Mayor Steve Hammell said he’ll ask to meet with Ontario’s Minister of Health at the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference every year until the emergency department in Chesley returns to a 24/7 operation.
Hammell and Arran-Elderslie CAO Emily Dance met with Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Sylvia Jones, in Ottawa this week. The municipal leaders used the meeting to advocate for the future of the Chesley Hospital and to emphasize the importance of maintaining accessible healthcare services in rural communities.
“I’ve taken a stance that I’ll request the same health delegation until we have it 24/7,” Hammell said. “They may not always grant it, but we’ll just keep trying until it’s back to where it was.”
The hospital in Chesley has been the subject of discussion, protest, and advocacy since the reduction of emergency department services began in late 2022, due to nursing and staff shortages.
Today, Chesley’s ER is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is closed on weekends.
“There’s a lot of municipalities vying for those delegation spots,” Hammell noted.
“I’ve been mayor seven years now, so I know I’m not going to get any promises or guarantees or anything, but I think it’s very important to have that advocacy and to understand just how important it is to us,” Hammell said
Hammell said the emergency room closures date back to 2019, although improvements have been made recently, with fewer short-notice closures.
“We were having those quite frequently. Staffing was so precarious that one sick staff member meant closing our emergency department,” he said. “We have a positive step there, and some updates from South Bruce Grey Health Centre, and Nancy Shaw, the CEO, who highlights we are having more hires and we’re encouraged with the staff we have.”
The South Bruce Grey Health Centre operates the hospitals in Chesley, Durham, Walkerton and Kincardine.
There’s also a historical context to the issue. Three times, in 1976, 1978, and 1992, the hospital was on the verge of closure, prompting an outpouring of community support that ultimately led to a change in the ministry’s direction.
In nearby Durham, the emergency department transitioned from around-the-clock service to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. in March 2024, and subsequently lost all 10 of its inpatient beds to sister hospitals in Walkerton and Kincardine, both due to staffing and safety issues.
“The challenge with a small hospital is that you don’t have a large nursing group with a wide variety of expertise. Two new nurses can’t look after an emergency department. There needs to be training,” Hammell said. “There have to be people with experience and expertise . . . we’re hoping we’re right on the cusp. We want to join Durham by being open on the weekend.”
Hammell said the emergency department hours are presenting challenges, not only for residents, but for county paramedics and other area hospitals that are picking up the slack.
“We have some residents who wait it out. They should be seen in an emergency department over the weekend, but they wait to go to Chesley first thing Monday morning,” Hammell said. “Those stories are motivating, but they’re heartbreaking. We don’t want to hear those anymore.”
Chesley’s ER had the highest number of hours closed in 2024.
The provincial government notes that there has been a 31 per cent increase in funding since 2018, with more than $50 billion in capital spending in 50 different communities, its Learn and Stay program, and noted efforts to license international doctors and nurses.
On the other hand, the Ontario Health Coalition says in Ontario, there were 1,117 emergency department closures, 1,001 urgent-care centre closures, three obstetrics unit closures, one ambulance base closure, one inpatient bed closure, and one labour and delivery unit closure in 2024.
