(May 23, 2025) By: Pauline Kerr, The Walkerton Herald Times<\/p>\n
The Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) held a day of action at the Ontario Legislature on Wednesday, May 14. The purpose was to ask Premier Doug Ford and his government to stop hospital closures.<\/p>\n
Among those at the event was a small but well-prepared delegation from Grey-Bruce, led by Brenda Scott of Chesley.<\/p>\n
A press release from the OHC stated the local group joined others from communities where emergency departments, urgent care centres, inpatient beds and other critical services are being closed down; and from communities where the local hospital is running at more than 100 per cent capacity without resources to provide for patients. Delegations came from Thessalon, where the local hospital is in trouble, according to Scott, as well as Blind River, Port Colborne, Fort Erie, Welland, St. Catharines, Durham Region, Hamilton, Lindsay, Toronto, Minden and other communities \u2013 more than 140 people.<\/p>\n
The Day of Action included watching the legislative session from the gallery, participating in a press conference, meeting with politicians and their staff, and taking part in a rally.<\/p>\n
As stated in the press release, people in Thessalon and the town of Durham have seen the inpatient beds at their hospital closed. Fort Erie and Port Colborne urgent care services have permanently closed overnight and other hospital services in Niagara Region are under threat.<\/p>\n
Locally, Chesley has seen its emergency department close overnight and weekends for the foreseeable future, while the town of Durham\u2019s emergency room (ER) is closed nights for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
In 2024 there were 1,117 emergency department closures in the province, 1,001 urgent care centre closures, three obstetrics unit closures, one ambulance base closure, one inpatient bed closure, and one labour and delivery unit closure. As stated in the press release, prior to 2021, ER closures were virtually unheard of in this province.<\/p>\n
The OHC states the current Ontario government continues to fund public hospitals at the lowest rate per person in the country, while shifting funding increases to private for-profit clinics. There continues to be no plan to fix the hospital crisis.<\/p>\n
After returning from a busy round of interviews, press conferences and meetings during the day of action, Scott commented that she\u2019s seen nothing in the Ontario budget for health care, apart from some funding for larger urban centres. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing for small town Ontario.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s nothing new in that, and nothing new in the response from the health minister and other government spokespeople, according to what Scott observed from the gallery. She noted the questions from opposition members were often quite specific and detailed; the answers were boilerplate \u201cnon-answers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Some answers in particular irritated her; those containing incorrect information about a small, local hospital she\u2019s quite familiar with \u2013 her own hospital in Chesley.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuestion period was very frustrating,\u201d Scott said. \u201cI\u2019m glad we got the opportunity to highlight specific issues about Chesley and Durham\u201d during the press conference and interviews.<\/p>\n
Among the major complaints was the lack of opportunity for public input on hospital decisions.<\/p>\n
At the press conference, Scott issued a message for the minister of health: \u201cRural Ontario matters too!\u201d<\/p>\n
As for what comes next, Scott said she has a busy summer ahead. \u201cWe (OHC) have big plans for July and September.\u201d<\/p>\n
In July, when Canada\u2019s premiers meet in Huntsville, Ont., the OHC will \u201chave a presence,\u201d said Scott. \u201cIt will be good.\u201d September\u2019s OHC event will be a leaflet and information campaign across the province.<\/p>\n
Locally, the Grey-Bruce Health Coalition has a lot of work to do, reorganizing, Scott said. Anyone who\u2019d like to be part of it should email contact@greybrucehc.ca.<\/p>\n