(September 15 2023)<\/p>\n
By: Scott Miller, CTV News<\/p>\n
Summer vacations are<\/span>\u00a0all but over, but the hospital emergency room closures in Grey and Bruce County are on the rise.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u201cHere we are,<\/span> the leaves are changing and the ER closures are still increasing. Personally, here in Chesley, we have a real concern about the viability of our hospital. Are we moving towards a more permanent closure?\u201d questioned Chesley resident and Co-Founder of Chesley Hospital Community Support group Brenda Scott.<\/p>\n <\/span>Chesley\u2019s emergency room<\/span>\u00a0closed on Sept. 7 and won\u2019t reopen until Sept. 25 due to a shortage of staff, according to the South Bruce Grey Health Centre (SBGHC), who operate hospitals in Chesley, Kincardine, Walkerton, and Durham.<\/p>\n <\/span>Hospitals in Walkerton<\/span>\u00a0and Durham are facing rolling overnight ER closures this weekend and into next week, on top of Chesley\u2019s nearly month long ER closure.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u201cHere [at the<\/span>\u00a0SBGHC] we\u2019ve got three of four hospitals repeatedly closed. In the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance, three of the four hospitals have their ER\u2019s repeatedly closed. So people will drive to the next town, and not really know whether or not there\u2019s going to be a hospital ER open. How is that possibly an acceptable situation,\u201d exclaimed Natalie Mehra, executive director of Ontario\u2019s Health Coalition.<\/p>\n <\/span>Mehra joined Scott<\/span>\u00a0in Chesley Friday because she feels it\u2019s \u201cground zero\u201d and will be the next small, rural hospital that will be closed after Minden\u2019s hospital ER completely closed earlier this year.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u201cThis year, so<\/span>\u00a0far to the end of August, we\u2019ve had 498 emergency room closures in Ontario, so just over half way through the year. And we\u2019re going to exceed last year\u2019s record breaking number of ER closures [of 848]. It is completely unprecedented,\u201d said Mehra.<\/p>\n <\/span>An open ER<\/span>\u00a0matters to most, but more than ever to Scott, whose brother had a heart attack a week and a half ago when the Chesley ER was open.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u201cThey got him<\/span>\u00a0stabilized and off to Kitchener for a life saving surgery. Had he had his issue later on in the day, that wouldn\u2019t have been possible and he wouldn\u2019t have made it to Hanover (the nearest open hospital ER) for treatment,\u201d said Scott.<\/p>\n Summer vacations are<\/span>\u00a0all but over, but the hospital emergency room closures in Grey and Bruce County are on the rise.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u201cHere we are,<\/span> the leaves are changing and the ER closures are still increasing. Personally, here in Chesley, we have a real concern about the viability of our hospital. Are we moving towards a more permanent closure?\u201d questioned Chesley resident and Co-Founder of Chesley Hospital Community Support group Brenda Scott.<\/p>\n <\/span>Chesley\u2019s emergency room<\/span> closed on Sept. 7 and won\u2019t reopen until Sept. 25 due to a shortage of staff, according to the South Bruce Grey Health Centre (SBGHC), who operate hospitals in Chesley, Kincardine, Walkerton, and Durham.<\/p>\n <\/span>Hospitals in Walkerton<\/span>\u00a0and Durham are facing rolling overnight ER closures this weekend and into next week, on top of Chesley\u2019s nearly month long ER closure.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u201cHere [at the<\/span>\u00a0SBGHC] we\u2019ve got three of four hospitals repeatedly closed. In the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance, three of the four hospitals have their ER\u2019s repeatedly closed. So people will drive to the next town, and not really know whether or not there\u2019s going to be a hospital ER open. How is that possibly an acceptable situation,\u201d exclaimed Natalie Mehra, executive director of Ontario\u2019s Health Coalition.<\/p>\n <\/span>Mehra joined Scott<\/span>\u00a0in Chesley Friday because she feels it\u2019s \u201cground zero\u201d and will be the next small, rural hospital that will be closed after Minden\u2019s hospital ER completely closed earlier this year.<\/p>\n Ontario Health Coalition<\/span>\u00a0Executive Director Natalie Mehra and Chesley Hospital Community Support leader Brenda Scott spoke outside the Chesley Hospital on Sept. 15, 2023. (Scot Miller\/CTV News London)<\/p>\n <\/span>\u201cThis year, so<\/span>\u00a0far to the end of August, we\u2019ve had 498 emergency room closures in Ontario, so just over half way through the year. And we\u2019re going to exceed last year\u2019s record breaking number of ER closures [of 848]. It is completely unprecedented,\u201d said Mehra.<\/p>\n <\/span>An open ER<\/span>\u00a0matters to most, but more than ever to Scott, whose brother had a heart attack a week and a half ago when the Chesley ER was open.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u201cThey got him<\/span>\u00a0stabilized and off to Kitchener for a life saving surgery. Had he had his issue later on in the day, that wouldn\u2019t have been possible and he wouldn\u2019t have made it to Hanover (the nearest open hospital ER) for treatment,\u201d said Scott.<\/p>\n <\/span>Scott and Mehra<\/span>\u00a0will be at Queen\u2019s Park on Sept. 25 for a massive protest to try and draw attention to the increasing ER closures in rural Ontario. They\u2019re calling on all Ontarian\u2019s to join them.<\/p>\n