Christine Whelan FEO, November 23, 2023, VOL. 5 ISSUE 6
The Fort Erie Healthcare SOS and the Niagara Health Coalition have both grown substantially in the last months since this campaign began, meeting on a regular basis and planning the new moves, working hard to keep Fort Erie’s healthcare services acceptable to its residents.
In a recent video posted on social media, Heather Kelley of Fort Erie Healthcare SOS stated, “Part-time hours for Urgent Care — 10:00 am to 8:00 pm daily — is not accessible to some of the people of Fort Erie.”
And not being accessible is not acceptable.
Kelley clarifies, “That means we have to go to Niagara Falls, St. Catharines or Hamilton.”
And winter is coming.
With the rise in population, a drop in healthcare services, and a weather dynamic like no other area, there are many in Fort Erie who are aware that this is a risky combination — and change is necessary.
Somehow though, there are not enough aware.
Heather tells about the work she has been doing with the Fort Erie Healthcare SOS and the Niagara Health Coalition to help residents create an emergency plan for after-hours urgent care needs while updating on the fight for adequate Fort Erie healthcare.
To briefly review, “First off, we had the referendum, getting the information out. We sent it off to the government, having it sent back to us through Niagara Health. The part-time hours in Fort Erie were announced. We held the vigils to say ‘no, we don’t agree with part-time hours’.”
Three vigils were held in front of the Douglas Memorial over the summer and two busloads attended the larger September 25 rally at Queen’s Park.
“And we’ve done the petitions.” Over 4,000 signatures were gathered within approximately six weeks. When she received word from people who wanted to sign but couldn’t leave their homes, she took it to them.
The petitions were turned over to MPP Wayne Gates on November 7, to be handed in at Queen’s Park the following week.
“The next step now is to hold a town forum.”
Next Steps
The goal of a public discussion is to get people talking.
When I asked Heather if she thought a public forum could compare to the one that brought in 5,000 residents stepping up to save Douglas Memorial Hospital in 2008, she shook her head. When asked why not, she commented, “I think people are tired. They are discouraged. And there are so many new people here now who have no idea about the situation with the hospital. And they don’t have any idea about the weather issues in the winter when trying to get to the hospital.”
Heather stated the communication will be two-fold. “One, for the workers, to access their thoughts and opinions because they’re not always able to come out publicly and talk about what’s happening. Then, there’s the communication with the general public, which may not understand exactly what those workers are going through.”
Heather explained another reason why this discussion is essential. “The problem with all the communication that’s out there is, people are being told one thing by Niagara Health, then being told another thing by the government and your Town Council so it can all be so confusing. If we can just get all those pieces of information together.”
The town discussion, put together by Niagara Health Coalition and Fort Erie Healthcare SOS, will be held on November 30 at 6:30 pm in the Leisureplex Banquet Hall.
AFTER DISCUSSION
“Through the Ontario Health Coalition, there will be a major campaign, reaching out door-to-door with the information in hand to try and fill in that gap, making sure everyone in town is aware,” Heather said. “This way, we can have these discussions one-on-one with the people at their homes, if they’re willing.”
Heather feels that with all the work Fort Erie Healthcare SOS and Niagara Health Coalition have been doing, there is still a gap in communication. There are many who are still not aware of their own hospital’s circumstances.
Website
A project that is a priority for Heather is developing a website. She has brought on some assistance, a Niagara College student who will work with Heather in creating this website. They were getting together on the day of this interview.
“I’ve been putting together the history of the hospital, from 1931 to now, in segments so the information is not too overwhelming all at once.”
The website will also include a series of articles on the storm that hit the Greater Fort Erie area last Christmas, Winter Storm Elliot, related to planning.
From the beginning of the battle to keep the hospital, Heather has been repeating one sentence, one directive. “Make a plan.” She has been encouraging residents to make a personal emergency plan in case someone in the household needs to use urgent care services after 8:00 pm and before 10:00 am, as well as during extreme weather events. An individual plan template will be included on the website for each household to personalize.
The website is in progress. To access updates, you can bookmark the site. You can also follow the website so you will get notifications of blog posts.
Did you know?
Heather shared that there will be a segment on the website that asks questions that need to be asked to get people to think about their own community awareness and personal safety.
“It will be published once a week so the reader can take each question and think about it and if chosen, to talk about it, ask more questions.” Heather is hoping to make the website interactive.
She will be looking for students in search of placements and community hours to assist her in operating the website in the new year.
In the past, Heather has reached out for help online, receiving responses of interest from people around the globe. Given the circumstances, Heather would like to see local citizens assist. The hospital’s people, those with feet on the ground.
What are you going to do?
“In the website plan, I want to include the segment, ‘What are you going to do?’ It would be a blog asking what would you do if this happens or that happens, looking at different scenarios.” This segment is meant to help people consider and imagine themselves experiencing different emergency situations, thus realizing what would be required during each situation.
While a personal plan is essential, once that is in place, Heather stated, it’s time to turn outward, towards our community. “Now it’s up to the people. At some point, they do have to stand up.”
A BALANCE: Adjust and cope but not settle
While individual preparedness is vital, Heather is concerned that if too much focus is put on adjusting to the loss of healthcare, it could turn into acceptance. “That’s the problem. I think some people are settling.
“There needs to be a focus on keeping our Urgent Care open.”
We talked about the decisions at the provincial level but, as Heather stated, it rests on all of us. Whatever level of government is responsible, they would not get away with these decisions if people were to stand up.
“That’s the message we’ve been putting out there repeatedly. Politicians make decisions. They’re not always right. And so, we need to speak up so that those decisions can be tweaked so that it meets the needs of everybody.”
When asked if we have to wait until the next election for change, Heather replied, “I hope not.”
She continued with stories about people who have disclosed to her, their experiences at Fort Erie’s Urgent Care, being turned away, and told to go to another hospital. “People need change now.”
Heather also talked about the hospital staff. “They don’t know where they stand. Will they be sent to another location after working at Douglas Memorial for years? Are they going to have to travel to work in the upcoming weather?”
The campaign has the Town of Fort Erie’s support. Although this is not a Town initiative, they seem to leave it up to the two groups to develop and create, and the officials show up to each step in support.
The Town has a lot on its plate, leaving these volunteer groups to handle this campaign as kind of like an extension, to fill in the gap, as Heather and I discussed.
While the website is in progress, I asked Heather what the Greater Fort Erie area residents could do now to prepare.
THREE THINGS TO GET READY NOW:
1. Have a buddy. Arrange ahead of time somebody you can call on. Even if there is no power, no phone, there has already been an agreement that you will check on each other.
2. If you don’t have transportation, make a plan for what kind of transportation you are going to require in case of an emergency, an Uber for example. And then you need to set aside a fund that is only for that emergency transportation, to get to and from the hospital.
3. Once at the hospital, make sure you have planned ahead of time, someone who will advocate for you. During an emergency, sometimes we can get confused between what is the right thing to do and the wrong thing to do.
Have all of this laid out on a paper that your buddy is aware of, your driver is aware of and your advocate is aware of.
Emergency preparedness is like a project. Our safety is worth the time and effort it takes to have a plan in place, whether it includes an individual plan, a household plan, or a neighbourhood plan.
Once that plan is in place, we can go into the holiday season feeling more secure that if Fort Erie once again is hit, we are better prepared. And the holiday season can be enjoyed.
For more information and to connect with Heather, check out the Facebook group, Fort Erie Healthcare SOS. The group will include the link to the developing website. You can also contact Heather directly by phoning her at (905) 993-2078.
Photos by Heather Kelley
