Christine Whelan FEO, June 22, 2023, VOL. 4 ISSUE 22

On Monday, June 5, 2023, The Town of Fort Erie called a Special Council Meeting to discuss a statement from Niagara Health on May 31, 2023, announcing the significant reduction of Urgent Care service hours at Douglas Memorial and Port Colborne sites, as of July 5, cutting them by half.

During the meeting, Councillor Dubanow wanted to clarify that, while Niagara Health has been putting out the statement that the hours at the locations will be 10:00 am – 10:00 pm, the information he received directly from Niagara Health was that the last registration in the evening would be at 8:00 pm. He felt it was important that the residents of Fort Erie were aware of this.

The Mayor agreed the public should be aware of what happens in those two hours after 8:00 pm. “I think we have a major education initiative that we have to take in, conjunction with Niagara Health to make sure at least our residents are well-informed as to what they can expect.”

A resolution by Council of the Town of Fort Erie requested the following:

• Niagara Health reverses its decision to reduce hours at Fort Erie Urgent Care Centre effective July 5, 2023, and ensures the continuation of full-service hours, 24 hours per day, seven days per week
• Niagara Health work with the Town of Fort Erie to secure the necessary human resources and funding required to permit full-time Urgent Care services
• The provincial government works with Fort Erie and Niagara Health to facilitate a provincially-funded Health Team for Fort Erie, either as a stand-alone or in conjunction with the City of Port Colborne, to address the immediate and long-term health care needs of residents
• The provincial and federal governments immediately take steps to alleviate the staffing shortages in hospital and health care systems, which includes streamlining the process of permitting qualified doctors, nurses, and other health professionals from other countries to practice their profession in Canada
• Council also directed the Chief Administrative Officer to create a plan of options to identify resources and funding requirements to meet Fort Erie residents’ immediate and long-term healthcare needs. The plan will be developed in collaboration with important community stakeholders along with municipal, provincial, and federal governments.

“We are now in an ‘all hands-on deck’ situation for the next two and a half to three years to make sure that we’ve got something in place. And I’m counting on all of you.” The Mayor looked left and right at his Council, “We are the individuals that the community looks to. The residents aren’t looking to Niagara Health and they’re not necessarily looking to the province of Ontario to help their long-term care needs. I think the residents are looking to us.

“It is not acceptable for the residents to be treated as second-class citizens when it comes to access to health care. It has become increasingly evident over the past two decades that Fort Erie will have to find its own solution to ensuring that our residents have long-term access to the primary, after hours, and diagnostic health care we need and deserve.”