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Hamilton Spectator
07-07-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Demonstrators decry cuts to UCC hours in Fort Erie
Dozens of people rallied in Fort Erie Friday to protest Niagara Health's temporary cuts that have left urgent care centres in that town and Port Colborne with fewer hours. Organized by Fort Erie SOS Yellow Shirt Brigade and SEIU Healthcare, the demonstration brought together residents, health-care workers, union leaders and area politicians who say the local hospital system is failing the region's most vulnerable residents, and in tourist-heavy communities. Niagara Health last month announced the Fort Erie UCC would be closed Fridays and the Port Colborne UCC Saturdays throughout July and August as a result of ongoing staff shortages. Both are open the other six days of the week 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. However, the Fort Erie UCC will be closed Aug. 1-4 of the civic holiday weekend, and the UCC in Port Colborne will be closed Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 of the Labour Day weekend. Among people present for the rally outside Niagara Health's Douglas Memorial site were Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop and Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates, who both expressed frustration over what they described as a health-care model that ignores community needs. Gates said he spoke with Premier Doug Ford about the issue a day earlier. 'The No. 1 issue in Niagara is health care,' he said. 'Premier Ford has to get involved. Our goal is to make sure we're representing the constituents that we represent.' Residents shared personal experiences that underscored the critical role the two UCCs have played. Louise Bain, a Port Colborne resident, said urgent care access helped her manage care for her husband who had a form of muscular dystrophy. 'He was there for five days and saved my sanity,' she said. 'It really did.' Bain said she could not understand how the province could allow closures during the summer, when tourists flock to the Lake Erie shore. 'It doesn't make sense.' Janet Chassman, a Fort Erie resident, recalled waiting with her wife at Niagara Falls hospital for hours after she broke her arm during a winter storm. 'She was in the emergency bay for hours and hours before they even brought her in,' she said. 'They said, 'Come back tomorrow.' The same people from the night before were all back there the next day.' Holly Hillard, a representative of SEIU Healthcare, accused Niagara Health of acting without warning or collaboration. 'Management at Niagara Health gave our union 45 minutes' notice before the weekend closures,' she told the crowd. 'There was no consultation, no planning, workers were left to scramble.' Ron Walker, a Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 4207 member from Welland, said the hospital system's fixation on 'centres of excellence' is coming at the expense of rural communities. 'There's no reason that we can't have both, centres of excellence and accessibility,' he said. 'What's the point of great care if you can't access it?' The rally came as calls for stronger oversight and leadership have grown in recent weeks. Fort Erie Ward 5 Coun. Tom Lewis presented a motion for the town to withhold its $3-million local share contribution to the new south Niagara Falls hospital until a resolution is met, which was approved by council June 23. Niagara Health responded to the motion in a statement, saying the funding is a one-time community contribution required by the Ministry of Health to help fund the bricks-and-mortar construction of the new hospital. It said 'backtracking on that now sends the wrong message to the province and other partners.' 'Any shortfall increases pressure on the hospital to reallocate funds that should go toward patient care.' To end Friday's rally, Yellow Shirt Brigade member Joy Russell delivered a message directed at provincial and federal leaders. 'Douglas Memorial and the Port Colborne hospital were built for their communities by the work and donations from the community, now look what we have here.' Organizers are now turning to Port Colborne, where a rally is scheduled outside the urgent care centre Saturday at 11 a.m. Gates said the fight isn't over. 'As you can see, the community's on board, you can tell by the cars going by, beeping and waving,' he said motioning to the crowd. 'They know the No. 1 issue in Niagara is health care, and I know I've always said working together is how you win.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
18-06-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
‘This is not safe': South Niagara mayors demand urgent care summer hour reductions be halted
Mayors of Fort Erie and Port Colborne are calling on the province to reverse Niagara Health's plan to temporarily reduce hours at its urgent care centres this summer, calling the one-day-a-week closures unsafe and poorly communicated. Speaking at a joint press conference Wednesday at Fort Erie town hall, Mayor Wayne Redekop said his residents are again being left behind by Niagara Health as it continues to cut services in South Niagara. 'This is not fair. This is not equitable. This is not safe,' he said, urging the Ontario government to intervene immediately. 'It is simply not safe to close urgent care facilities in Fort Erie and Port Colborne, not for one day, not for one weekend, not during the summer, not any time.' The Fort Erie UCC at Douglas Memorial is to shut down every Friday, and Port Colborne's UCC every Saturday throughout July and August. Both locations will close on Canada Day and the long weekend for Labour Day. Fort Erie's will also shut down for the civic holiday weekend Aug. 1 to 4. The reductions come less than two years after Niagara Health reduced hours at both centres from 24/7 to 10 hours a day (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.). Redekop said reducing services during peak tourist season is not logical. 'We are welcoming tens of thousands of visitors and seasonal residents in the summer,' he said. 'This is when our population swells and when access to care becomes even more critical.' Niagara Health's announcement came, Redekop said, minutes after he and Port Colborne Mayor Bill Steele met with the hospital system about physician recruitment on Monday. 'There was no prior warning, no chance to provide input. This type of conduct is, unfortunately, typical,' Redekop said. Steele said the region is being squeezed out of essential services. 'We need more care, not less,' he said. 'There are more people living here and visiting here than ever before and more people without a family doctor.' Niagara Health said the closures are a last resort due to a critical shortage of emergency-trained physicians. A fact sheet distributed at the press conference by representatives from Niagara Health said the organization is short 10 to 15 doctors and is facing 111 unfilled shifts across its sites this summer. 'Emergency care must come first,' the document said. 'More than half of these gaps are at the Marotta Family ED in St. Catharines, one of the busiest in Ontario, with most of the rest in Niagara Falls. This is not about funding, it's about staffing.' Redekop dismissed the idea that Niagara Health has made adequate recruitment efforts. 'Where is the plan? Where is the evidence that anyone is being hired? There is none,' he said. The mayors said both municipalities have offered to work with Niagara Health on physician recruitment, through initiatives led by Niagara Region. But those offers, they said, have been ignored. 'We offered on May 22 to assist Niagara Health, I sent out an email to (Niagara Health chief executive officer Lynn Guerriero) and asked if they could share their physician recruitment plan to see how it aligned with ours,' Redekop said. 'I didn't get an answer until after the meeting on June 9 and (we) learned that they don't have a physician recruitment plan.' Niagara Health has said otherwise. In a statement, the organization stressed it is continuing extensive efforts for physician onboarding. 'Niagara Health is working tirelessly to recruit more physicians to the region,' it said. 'It's disingenuous to minimize the incredible challenge of physician recruitment in the face of a provincewide doctor shortage.' Niagara Health has stated it will be recruiting five emergency physicians this summer, with four more in the credentialing process, but the organization said that is still not enough to meet the need across the region. Despite these efforts, Redekop said Niagara Health's broader strategy remains out of touch. 'They talk about improved access and partnerships,' he said. 'What we're seeing is neither.' Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates, who was also at Wednesday's media conference, said the situation is a result of policy failures at the provincial level. 'It didn't have to be this way. These cuts were not inevitable,' he said. 'This was a choice.' Redekop and Steele said the media conference was meant to apply pressure on the provincial government to intervene and reverse the summer reduction in urgent care hours. Redekop concluded with a direct appeal to Queen's Park. 'If Niagara Health will not reverse this decision, then we are calling on Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister (Sylvia) Jones to immediately reinstate daily operations at both urgent care centres,' he said. 'Our residents can't afford to wait.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CBC
12-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
'Enough is enough:' Local politicians decry Niagara Health's decision to reduce urgent care hours
Niagara Health's decision to reduce summer hours at its only two urgent care centres in Fort Erie and Port Colborne, Ont., has sparked outrage. Some local elected officials in Fort Erie are calling on the CEO to resign, the provincial government to intervene and an immediate reversal of the decision. Mayor Wayne Redekop told his council Monday evening that the people running the local hospital system "don't give a rats ass about Fort Erie." His perspective was echoed by other councillors, including Nick Dubanow. "I think we need to kick Niagara Health to the curb," he said. "I'm very angry. Enough is enough." Earlier that day, Niagara Health had announced that throughout July, August and early September, it will close the Fort Erie Urgent Care Centre on Fridays and the Port Colborne Urgent Care Centre on Saturdays. Both centres will be closed on Canada Day, July 1, and the Labour Day long weekend, Aug. 30 to Sept. 1. Fort Erie's will also be closed on the Civic Holiday long weekend, Aug. 1 to 4. Normally they operate seven days a week. Fort Erie Coun. Tom Lewis advised council on Monday he will be putting forward two motions later this month. The first will call for the town to "immediately withhold" committed funding to Niagara Health's new hospital, although it's unclear the dollar amount. The second will call for the Niagara Health CEO Lynn Guerriero and members of the board to resign, and for the province to appoint a supervisor to oversee operations, Lewis said. "Niagara Health has broken our trust," he said. "We owe it to the people of Fort Erie to take a firm stance. And I believe this council will." Niagara Health said in a statement to CBC Hamilton local officials are oversimplifying the complexity of running a regional hospital system. "We are disappointed when misinformation is shared by elected local officials in their zeal to build support for their campaigns," said spokesperson Erica Bajer. Doctor shortage prompts closures The closures are because the region faces a shortage of physicians qualified to work in emergency departments, Niagara Health said in a news release. The doctors who'd normally work in urgent care need to be deployed to hospitals and even still many shifts there remain unfilled. "We know these closures are frustrating and concerning for the communities affected, said Dr. Kevin Chan, chief of staff, in the release. "They are not decisions we made lightly. This is the minimum level of closure required to maintain emergency care across the region." There are no hospitals or emergency rooms in Fort Erie or Port Colborne and thousands of people are without a family doctor. The closest hospital is in Welland — about a 12-kilometre drive from Port Colborne and 32-kilometre drive from Fort Erie. Niagara Health also runs a hospital in St. Catharines and another in Niagara Falls. Urgent care centres are supposed to be for people with health conditions who can't wait for a scheduled medical appointment but don't necessarily need emergency care, says Niagara Health's website. Those health conditions include nausea, vomiting, fevers, flu, minor cuts that may need stitches, sports injuries, ear, throat and eye problems and minor asthma flare-ups or allergic reactions. Niagara Health said the urgent care closures are despite "exhaustive efforts" to recruit physicians including financial incentives, direct outreach, targeted recruitment campaigns and flexible scheduling. "Further, Niagara Health is working tirelessly to recruit more physicians to the region and it's disingenuous to minimize the incredible challenge of physician recruitment in the face of a province-wide doctor shortage," said Bajer. In 2009, Niagara Health converted Fort Erie's Douglas Memorial Hospital's emergency department to an urgent care centre. In 2023, it reduced hours at both centres from operating overnight to closing in the evening. It's also planning to close them permanently in 2028 when a new hospital in Niagara Falls is supposed to open. 'Treated as afterthoughts," mayor says At a news conference Wednesday, Redekop and Port Colborne Mayor Bill Steele said they don't believe Niagara Health had a plan to keep the urgent care centres running seven days a week despite thousands of tourists visiting throughout the summer. "I'm concerned we're being treated as afterthoughts and it's becoming normalized," Steele said. They mayors were also joined by local NDP MPP Wayne Gates. Steele and Redekop said they spoke with the Niagara Health CEO in May, where she gave them a heads up of staffing shortages that could impact urgent care. The mayors said they could help to recruit physicians and in a follow-up email requested to see the Niagara Health recruitment program, and the number of doctors needed, but never heard back. Then on Monday, they had a call with Chan, the chief of staff. He advised them of the reduced hours, which Niagara Health made public during their meeting, Redekop said. No heads up was given to the mayors or councillors. Redekop said at the meeting they also learned Niagara Health doesn't have a formal physician recruitment program or plan to develop a training program so family doctors can more easily become qualified to work in urgent care and emergency departments. Niagara Health said it does "aggressive and ongoing recruitment efforts" that aren't limited to "a single campaign" and provided this "clarification" to the mayors on Monday. Bajer said Niagara Health sent information about its training process to them on Wednesday. But Niagara Health also didn't post its physician schedules for the urgent care centres two months in advance as it normally does to give doctors who want more hours the opportunity to take them, Redekop said. The hospital system said its process was delayed "as we worked to stabilize physician coverage across the entire hospital system, particularly in emergency departments, which are provincially mandated to remain operational." Ministry says up to Niagara Health to decide Several Fort Erie councillors said they didn't believe Niagara Health tried to keep the urgent care centres open, even as it will force more people to go to already busy hospitals for health care. "The hospital system is effectively condemning its own emergency room," said Coun. Joan Christensen at Monday's council meeting, after having also joined the phone call with Niagara Health earlier in the day. "In my opinion, our battle should now be with the Government of Ontario. We can't negotiate with people who are consistently misrepresenting the truth." The Ministry of Health said in a statement it is up to Niagara Health's to decide how to deliver services. "While the Ministry of Health was not directly involved in this decision, we will continue to work closely with Niagara Health and other hospital partners ... to ensure they have the tools they need to deliver high-quality care close to home," said press secretary Ema Popovic.
Hamilton Spectator
11-06-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Niagara ‘health-care emergency'?: Urgent care centre reductions spark accusations
Anger over planned cuts to summer hours at south Niagara's two urgent care centres is boiling over into words and proposed actions. During Fort Erie's town council meeting Monday night, Ward 5's Coun. Tom Lewis said he will bring forward motions June 23 to withhold the municipality's previously committed funds to Niagara Health for its south Niagara Falls hospital under construction and redirect them to other health-care initiatives. He said he also plans to formally request the resignations of Lynn Guerriero, the hospital system's president and chief executive officer, along with the entire Niagara Health board, and ask the provincial government to appoint a supervisor to oversee Niagara Health operations. 'This is a health-care emergency and a threat to our health-care safety net,' he said, adding Fort Erie residents 'should be outraged.' 'We thought we were funding a new hospital with urgent care services still within our community,' Lewis said. 'We bought a horse and what they're showing us today is a donkey. That is not acceptable.' Mayors of Fort Erie and Port Colborne are also calling the reduced hours 'unacceptable' and 'deeply concerning,' as both communities brace for reduced access to medical services during the tourism season. Niagara Health informed the municipalities it will reduce regular hours at its urgent care centres (UCCs) beginning in July, through to the Labour Day weekend. The Fort Erie UCC will be closed Fridays and over two long weekends, while Port Colborne's UCC will close on Saturdays. Both UCCs will also be closed Canada Day and Fort Erie will be closed for the civic holiday weekend, Aug. 1-4. The announcement has sparked a war of words between the hospital system and the two mayors, with Niagara Health saying in an emailed statement some comments from politicians are 'insulting.' 'Our urgent care centre is not a luxury, it is an essential service,' Fort Erie Mayor Wayne Redekop said in a statement. 'Scaling back operations during the busiest months of the year, when thousands of residents and visitors depend on timely access to care, shows a troubling disregard for the needs of our community.' Port Colborne Mayor Bill Steele echoed that frustration. 'We are doing everything we can so that Port Colborne continues to have access to the health care we need, especially during the summer months when our population almost doubles,' he stated in a news release. The mayors said they have previously offered to collaborate with Niagara Health on physician recruitment efforts and emergency room operations at hospitals. During Monday night's meeting, Redekop said Niagara Health needs a formal physician recruitment plan, onboarding process and training programs to prepare family doctors for UCC and emergency work, and the town is willing to do what it can to help. '(Niagara Health) has never reached out to Fort Erie to assist with physician recruitment initiatives, (or) to seek additional funding from the province if needed.' He said the process has left municipalities without opportunities to help fill staffing gaps. 'Niagara Health simply decided to pre-emptively shutter UCCs,' he said, referring to its plans to close the UCCs after the new Niagara Falls hospital is complete in 2028. In response to similar comments made earlier, Niagara Health sent a statement calling them 'inflammatory.' 'Let us be clear: these are not decisions we want to make — they are decisions we have to make,' said Niagara Health. 'Our emergency-trained doctors are exhausted. We are short at least 10 to 15 physicians across our sites,' it said, adding if its limited emergency medical resources are not focused on keeping emergency departments (ED) in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland open 24-7, the entire region will be at risk. 'We have said this repeatedly: our priority is maintaining 24-7 ED care, where the sickest and most vulnerable patients come for treatment. We cannot, in good conscience, divert those resources to UCCs at the expense of emergency coverage. That's not just operational reality — it's a patient safety imperative.' The statement said Niagara Health helped develop a model to bring a family physician group into the Port Colborne UCC site to support same-day access to care. It said Fort Erie has been encouraged to explore a similar model. 'We have offered to help develop it, identify partners and support implementation. No such proposal has been submitted from the town,' the statement said. 'Despite Niagara Health's support, Fort Erie also did not apply for available provincial funding in 2023 to bring an interprofessional primary care model to the community — a missed opportunity that could have helped address the root cause of this challenge: the lack of access to primary care.' Both mayors will speak further at a joint news conference scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Fort Erie town hall. Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates is also expected to be in attendance. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
12-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Port Colborne residents to rally at Queen's Park in push to save urgent care services
With petitions in hand and a strong community backing, Port Colborne residents are preparing to travel to Queen's Park next week to demand the province protect local health-care services, including the urgent care centre at the former hospital. The day of action on May 14 is being organized with support of the Port Colborne Health Coalition and the Niagara Health Coalition. Residents are expected to board buses to Toronto to delivers thousands of petition signatures to the provincial legislature. At the heart of the campaign is a call for the government to halt cuts to urgent care and diagnostic services, and to support the development of a permanent health-care hub in the community. 'This was a big issue during the election,' said Jeff Burch, the NDP MPP for Niagara Centre, which includes Port Colborne. 'With this new parliament, we're just reinforcing that the voices of people in Port Colborne are heard and that's through petitions and people getting on the bus and letting the government know how strongly the people of Port Colborne feel.' Concerns have been growing not just in Port Colborne, but across much of Niagara in response to Niagara Health's regional redevelopment plan, which includes consolidating emergency and acute care services at three hospital sites. These sites would be located in St. Catharines, Welland and Niagara Falls, with the urgent care centres in Port Colborne and Fort Erie being closed. While Niagara Health has maintained the move is intended to improve efficiency and care, critics, including Burch and local coalitions, argue that it leaves smaller communities behind. 'The people of Port Colborne want to have a health-care hub of services that are there for people in their communities,' Burch said. 'The petitions that we're bringing to Queen's Park is to let the government know what the people want in the health care.' The City of Port Colborne has conducted consultations and surveys with residents on their thoughts regarding the possible closure of its urgent care centre, and the feedback echoes what Burch has heard throughout his campaign: that health care should be kept local. The issue also played a role in the recent federal election, which saw Port Colborne become part of the new Niagara South riding. The riding is now represented by Conservative MP Fred Davies, a former regional councillor for Port Colborne. While health care falls under provincial jurisdiction, Davies has publicly supported keeping the urgent care centre open as has his opponent, Liberal Vance Badawey. On April 10, at the Niagara South all-candidates forum, Davies voiced his support for the urgent care services to remain open in Fort Erie. 'We can't often get physicians that are your primary physician to be able to work in a hospital, we need to re-evaluate those rules,' he prefaced. 'Once we do that, we can bring more physicians into our community and Fort Erie deserves a 24-7 urgent care.' Davies' support for urgent care marks a rare point of contrast with his provincial counterparts. 'The federal and provincial Conservatives are not exactly aligned on every issue, so (I am) hoping to have a dialogue with Fred,' Burch said. 'I hope that he would support the urgent care in Port Colborne; the Conservative opponent I ran against in the (provincial) election (Port Colborne Mayor Bill Steele) was in favour of the Niagara Health plan, and I won every poll in Port Colborne.' Burch said his office is co-ordinating with the Port Colborne and Niagara Health Coalitions to support their efforts at Queen's Park. While the coalitions are organizing independently, he remains a strong supporter of their push to keep emergency services accessible. 'I'm certainly welcoming them to Queen's Park and doing anything that I can to facilitate their visit and if I can help them in any way to meet with ministers, then I'll certainly do that,' he said. Organizers expect a strong turnout for the May 14 Day of Action and hope it will send a clear message to Queen's Park: communities like Port Colborne deserve access to local, reliable health care. 'The people spoke pretty clearly in the election and they're speaking clearly next week,' Burch said. 'It's about tax dollars, that's what they want, they want health care close to home with their community.'
