Health care advocates from Port Colborne travelled to Toronto to protest proposed urgent care closures, warning Queen\u2019s Park that Niagara communities are being abandoned by the province\u2019s health-care system.<\/em><\/p>\nPort Colborne health-care advocates returned from Queen\u2019s Park last week frustrated by what they described as vague answers and a lack of urgency from the provincial government over proposed urgent care closures in Port Colborne and Fort Erie.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe answers we got were in my opinion, condescending,\u201d said Niagara Health Coalition chair, Sue Hotte. \u201cThe questions (from opposition MPPs) we\u2019re really good, and they were pointed. The answers (from governing party MPPs) were questionable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Residents and advocates met with opposition MPPs, rallied outside the legislature, and filled the public gallery during Question Period in protest, as part of a provincewide day of action on May 14.<\/p>\n
Organized by Niagara Health Coalition, the trip served as a way for advocates to continue their fight demanding the province reverse Niagara Health\u2019s proposed long-term plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of lobbying prior to the meeting,\u201d said Hotte. \u201cWe were able to ask questions and explain what the situation is, what\u2019s happening in our communities because of this reduction in services.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposed plan would close urgent care services in Port Colborne and Fort Erie.<\/p>\n
Port Colborne resident and former city and regional councillor Barbara Butters, who spoke at a press briefing after question period, said the potential closure of her city\u2019s urgent care centre would be devastating for a community that already faces barriers accessing care.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a town of about 20,000 people, approximately 10,000 of those don\u2019t have a family doctor,\u201d she told the media. \u201cOur urgent care is their first and only way to get any kind of health care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Butters said residents face lengthy wait times at the nearest emergency department in Welland, which is roughly 12 kilometres away. For those without access to care, such as seniors or single parents, the trip is often unattainable.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery single morning, there is a lineup outside the urgent care doors for people looking for care,\u201d she said. \u201cIf that urgent care closes, we\u2019re going to be isolated and denied care in a way that we\u2019ve never experienced in our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The closures have drawn criticism for what advocates say is an inequitable approach to health-care delivery that impacts smaller communities most.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are being treated like second-class citizens,\u201d said Betty Konc, former acting mayor of Wainfleet and a Port Colborne resident. \u201cThose with well-paying jobs at the head of (Niagara Health) think closing the urgent care is a cost saving measure, which is patently not true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Konc said the urgent care centres in Port Colborne and Fort Erie help lessen pressure on other emergency departments by offering a first point of care for those without a family doctor. Without them, she warned, local hospitals will face longer wait times and strain staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are trying to make it clear to all levels that closing our urgent care is a slap in the face to us in the southern tier,\u201d Konc said.<\/p>\n
At Queen\u2019s Park, opposition MPPs raised concerns about health care cuts in Niagara and across the province. Hotte said many questions were met with what she called \u201cquestionable\u201d responses from Health Minister Sylvia Jones.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the questions dealt with access to care, and the minister said, \u2018well you know, we\u2019re getting 600 new beds,\u2019\u201d Hotte said. \u201cI\u2019m not too sure if she means physical beds, (but) certainly not getting an extra 600 beds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hotte said that the vague answers from provincial leaders, including a claim that funding to hospitals across the province has increased, ignore the financial reality.<\/p>\n
\u201d(They) increased the funding by 0.5 per cent,\u201d she said. \u201cIt will sound like a lot, but on the other hand, the rate of inflation is much higher than 0.5 per cent so the hospitals are operating in a deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the conference, Butters said Niagara Health\u2019s plan included closing two urgent care centres, and eliminating complex care beds in Port Colborne, cuts that she emphasizes cannot be offset by the new Niagara Falls hospital alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this Ford government thinks for one minute that we will stay silent or we will give up this fight, they got another thing coming,\u201d Butters said.<\/p>\n
The day concluded with a rally outside the legislature, with support from the Toronto Health Coalition. Hotte said participants left feeling energized, but emphasized that their fight doesn\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople felt really good about it,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to keep the pressure on the government, (we) have a dire situation in Niagara and in many communities where hospitals (will be) closed.\u201d<\/p>\n
For residents like Butters, the issue is about fairness and visibility in the provincial health-care system.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t understand, and I never will, how 40-odd thousand people in Fort Erie who live there, 20,000 in Port Colborne, Wainfleet probably another four or five thousand, how come we don\u2019t count?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe pay our taxes, we all try to make a good living for ourselves and take care of our communities, why don\u2019t we count with this government?\u201d<\/p>\n
Click here for the original article<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(May 23, 2025) By: Rose Lamberti, Port Colborne Leader Health care advocates from Port Colborne travelled to Toronto to protest proposed urgent care closures, warning Queen\u2019s Park that Niagara communities are being abandoned by the province\u2019s health-care system. Port Colborne health-care advocates returned from Queen\u2019s Park last week frustrated by what they described as vague […]<\/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-30612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ohc-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
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