MPP Gates presents petitions to save 24/7 health care at Douglas Memorial Urgent Care

QUEEN’S PARK - MPP Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls Riding) advocated for the restoration of 24/7 services at two urgent care centers in Niagara, including Douglas Memorial Urgent Care in Fort Erie.

In June 2023, it was announced that the Fort Erie urgent care centre would have reduced operating hours as a result of staffing shortages.

“The people of Niagara deserve health care that they can access 24/7,” said Gates. “No one should have to drive upwards of half an hour away to get to a hospital, especially now that winter is quickly approaching. Niagara’s storms last winter left residents stranded in their homes for days on end – and I’m concerned what might happen this year with this limited health care access.”

MPP Gates presented petitions organized by the Niagara Health Coalition, that feature over 4,000 signatures from residents demanding a return to 24/7 care.

“I am urging the Ford government to address this issue with the urgency it deserves,” said Gates. “We need to stop the privatization of our health care system, fully fund public care, repeal harmful legislation like Bill 60 & Bill 124, and address the staffing crisis in our hospitals. The people of Niagara deserve better.”

As of July 2023, Fort Erie Urgent Care Centre is only open between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

QUOTES

Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Health Coalition

"Port Colborne and Fort Erie already lost their emergency departments, in-patient acute care and surgeries. To take away their Urgent Care Centres is both wrong and dangerous. The Ford government should never have allowed those closures to go through. The vacuum in leadership from the Health Minister and the Premier to prevent the loss of core services built over decades in our communities is without exaggeration, putting peoples' lives at risk."

Sue Hotte, chair of Niagara Health Coalition

“Our health crisis has been deepened by the reduction in hours of operation of the Fort Erie and Port Colborne urgent care and Welland emergency surgeries. Where do the 20,000 residents who have no doctor go to access they care they need? Travelling to our remaining hospitals which are operating at over 120% capacity with long wait times in their emergency rooms is not an option for many of our 14,000 over 65 residents.”

Heather Kelley, organizer with Fort Erie Healthcare SOS

“Many residents do not have their own transportation and would have to rely on family or friends or in some cases the local transit. Otherwise, there is the additional cost of ambulance or patient transfer or taxis. All of these situations are a cost to the person that is sick.  It is shameful that our community that built this hospital and watch it grow now must watch its closure.  This is not equality in healthcare treatment by any stretch of the imagination.”