West Grey Council is urging the South Bruce Grey Health Centre not to make changes to service at the hospital in Durham.
The South Bruce Grey Health Centre announced April 24th, that as of June 3rd, ten inpatient beds would be relocated to the hospitals in Kincardine and Walkerton. The hospital’s emergency department will now provide urgent and emergent care from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Council held a special meeting Tuesday, April 30th to discuss the proposed changes to service. There, they resolved to send a letter to the South Bruce Grey Health Centre urging them not to make the changes. They passed a motion to also direct staff to pursue legal advice and all other actions to keep the Durham hospital open.
West Grey Mayor Kevin Eccles was a guest with host Murray Calder on the Open Line show on AM 560 CFOS Wednesday, May 1st. He said the news of the ten inpatient beds moving was a surprise to the municipality, saying, ‘We were blind-sided by it,” adding, “It has created an uproar.” He says the reaction was the same in 1972 when the Durham hospital faced closure.
He adds, “Rural Ontario is going to fight to save their hospitals and we’ll see the same results again,” stating, “This is a war on rural healthcare in Ontario.” Eccles is blaming the provincial government for the issue, calling out specifically Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones.
He argues losing services at the hospital could make it hard to build homes and grow the community, saying, “We all know there are about 800 lots in the town of Durham, there’s another almost 150 maybe 200 in Neustadt where we do have municipal services that are ready to go” he adds, “The first question that somebody who wants to come into the area or wants to stay in the area their first question is, “Do you have a hospital?’
Eccles says, “It’s the rock foundation of what Canada has evolved over the last 80 years.”
“My focus is to not let this hospital close,” says Eccles.
The South Bruce Grey Health Centre said in its release the change will allow for better access to urgent and emergency care in Durham amid a staffing shortage, while the inpatients will also be getting better, more consistent care in Walkerton and Kincardine. CEO Nancy Shaw recently told Bayshore Broadcasting News in an interview there is no intention of closing the Durham site.
The South Bruce Grey Health Centre says it will be hosting public engagement sessions in the coming months. Dates have not yet been announced.