{"id":30562,"date":"2025-05-15T10:58:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T14:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=30562"},"modified":"2025-05-21T11:02:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T15:02:57","slug":"healthcare-advocates-protest-hospital-closures-at-queens-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/healthcare-advocates-protest-hospital-closures-at-queens-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Healthcare advocates protest hospital closures at Queen\u2019s Park"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(May 14, 2025)<\/p>\n<p>By: Lisa Rene-de-Cotret, ElliotLakeToday.com<\/p>\n<p>With more than a thousand emergency department closures reported this year alone, the Ontario Health Coalition is leading a Day of Action to highlight the growing crisis in small-town healthcare<\/p>\n<p>The Ontario Health Coalition is mobilizing at Queen\u2019s Park for a Day of Action on Thursday, May 15, aimed at supporting rural hospitals that are at risk of closure and facing service cuts.<\/p>\n<p>Over 100 participants, including local residents and healthcare advocates, are coming together to call for crucial funding and resources for communities like Thessalon, where healthcare services have significantly declined.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget-videoad widget-inject widget-inject-centre widget-injected widget-dfp\" data-id=\"1102414\" data-widget=\"36\" data-per=\"17\" data-min=\"\" data-vast-tag=\"https:\/\/pubads.g.doubleclick.net\/gampad\/ads?iu=\/5198809\/video&amp;description_url=https%3a%2f%2fwww.elliotlaketoday.com%2flocal-news%2fhealthcare-advocates-protest-hospital-closures-at-queens-park-10661004&amp;tfcd=0&amp;npa=0&amp;sz=640x480&amp;cust_params=Site%3Dwww.elliotlaketoday.com&amp;ciu_szs=300x250&amp;min_ad_duration=1000&amp;max_ad_duration=61000&amp;gdfp_req=1&amp;pmad=1&amp;unviewed_position_start=1&amp;output=vast&amp;env=vp&amp;impl=s&amp;correlator=\" data-follow=\"true\" data-follow-mobile=\"true\" data-path=\"\/5198809\/NET_Inline1\" data-slot-id=\"slot-a72e6d19\" data-mapping=\"null\" data-dim-m=\"[[300, 250], [300, 300], [320, 320], [336, 280], [320, 50], [360, 120], [320, 100], 'fluid']\" data-dim-t=\"[[300, 250], [300, 300], [320, 320], [640, 480], [320, 50], [360, 120], [320, 100], 'fluid']\" data-dim-d=\"[[300, 250], [300, 300], [320, 320], [640, 480], [320, 50], [360, 120], [320, 100], 'fluid']\" data-targeting=\"[]\" data-min-height=\"\" data-style-url=\"\/cssb\/videoads?v=VrKl_-uGVHybCon_kMkAdPaZ2DhaJzmko9cungbl4OM1\" data-multi-ads=\"False\" data-disable-companion-ads=\"False\" data-size=\"[[300, 250], [300, 300], [320, 320], [640, 480], [320, 50], [360, 120], [320, 100], 'fluid']\">\n<div class=\"slot slot-widget slot-show slot-viewed\">\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Mary-Jane Thompson, a Thessalon resident, is among those voicing her concerns about the ongoing crisis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe want the Thessalon Hospital to be a real hospital again, complete with inpatient beds, doctors, and a fully operational facility,\u201d Thompson stated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were promised a functioning hospital, but that promise has not been fulfilled,\u201d she expressed, highlighting her frustration with the reliance on locum doctors who provide inconsistent care.<\/p>\n<p>Thompson pointed out the serious implications of the hospital\u2019s struggles, saying, \u201cWhen 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She emphasized that the ongoing shortage of stable medical professionals is a \u201cdevastating situation and a matter of life or death for the people of Thessalon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Albert Dupuis, co-chair of the Algoma Health Coalition in Blind River, shared Thompson\u2019s worries, urging the Ford government to stop the closure of local hospitals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need the necessary resources for the overcrowded remaining hospitals,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Advocates are rallying against a backdrop of troubling statistics\u2014over 1,100 Ontario emergency department closures in 2024 alone, with rural hospitals becoming increasingly at risk.<\/p>\n<p>The Thessalon hospital has seen more than 10 closures since August of 2024.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.elliotlaketoday.com\/local-news\/healthcare-advocates-protest-hospital-closures-at-queens-park-10661004\">Click here for the original article<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(May 14, 2025) By: Lisa Rene-de-Cotret, ElliotLakeToday.com With more than a thousand emergency department closures reported this year alone, the Ontario Health Coalition is leading a Day of Action to highlight the growing crisis in small-town healthcare The Ontario Health Coalition is mobilizing at Queen\u2019s Park for a Day of Action on Thursday, May 15, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ohc-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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