Niagara Centre NDP MPP Jeff Burch says he will be bringing petitions to Queen’s Park calling for the restoration of 24/7 urgent care services for residents in south Niagara.
Burch, speaking at Queen’s Park today, highlighted a recent report from the Port Colborne Health Coalition saying Fort Erie and Port Colborne have been dealing with reduced services for 840 days, and cuts over the summer made things worse.
“It has been 840 days since the Port Colborne and Fort Erie Urgent Care Centres lost their after-hours services, and we have yet to hear a response from this government to the community’s pleas for assistance. Over the summer, the situation worsened with rotating closures between the two sites during peak tourist season.”
Co-Chair of the Port Colborne Health Coalition Betty Konc says residents of the most southerly portion of the Niagara region are being left behind when it comes to access to health care.
She says it’s due to a hospital improvement plan that is outdated and no longer serves the needs of Port Colborne and Fort Erie.
“We are being treated like a poor second cousin, and it’s time that stopped. We need 24/7, 365-day care, the same as our counterparts in the northern part of the region.”
Story Credit: Bonnie Heslop
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