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REPORT: A Rural Nurse Speaks Out: New Report Appeals for Devastating Cuts to Small Community Hospitals to Stop

Posted: July 17, 2014

(June 5, 2014) The OHC has released a new report by Shirley Roebuck, RN, and a number of rural active or retired rural physicians, administrators and community members on the devastating cuts to small rural community hospitals across Ontario. The report includes a list sampling of devastating cuts to small and rural hospitals across Ontario.

The worst cuts have been in Niagara, Shelburne, Burk’s Falls, Penetanguishene, Picton and Wallaceburg. The worse hit hospitals are the smaller sites of hospitals amalgamated in the 1990s. But many other residents in communities with small hospitals have seen their services decimated by relentless downsizing and movement of services out of town. The report’s authors note that small hospitals save money – costing less than half, per patient – and have a vital role in saving lives within the “golden hour” of resuscitation. The report contains 24 recommendations to restore and improve small hospitals in Ontario, recruit and retain staff, restore sound funding and re-establish democratic governance.

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