The itinerary for the Day of Action group will be to watch the Legislative sessions from the galleries, have a press conference, discussions with politicians, and a rally at the top of hospital row in Toronto.

Mary-Jane Thompson, a Thessalon resident, is among those voicing her concerns about the ongoing crisis.

“We want the Thessalon Hospital to be a real hospital again, complete with inpatient beds, doctors, and a fully operational facility,” Thompson stated.

“We were promised a functioning hospital, but that promise has not been fulfilled,” she expressed, highlighting her frustration with the reliance on locum doctors who provide inconsistent care.

Thompson pointed out the serious implications of the hospital’s struggles, saying, “When patients are waiting for test results, they often fall through the cracks. At times, results are lost, leading to inadequate care and, in some cases, even death.”

She emphasized that the ongoing shortage of stable medical professionals is a “devastating situation and a matter of life or death for the people of Thessalon.”

Albert Dupuis, co-chair of the Algoma Health Coalition in Blind River, shared Thompson’s worries, urging the Ford government to stop the closure of local hospitals.

“We need the necessary resources for the overcrowded remaining hospitals,” he insisted.

The province funds public hospitals at the lowest rate per person out of all the provinces and territories, while shunting more than 200 per cent funding increases to private for-profit clinics.

Small, rural and northern hospitals are dependent on locum funding that is short-term and has often been belatedly announced at the last minute. There continues to be no plan to fix the hospital crisis.

Advocates are rallying against a backdrop of troubling statistics—over 1,100 Ontario emergency department closures in 2024 alone, with rural hospitals becoming increasingly at risk.

The Thessalon hospital has seen more than 10 closures since August of 2024.

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