In response to repeated emergency room (ER) closures at Chesley District Memorial Hospital, a group of local residents are doing their part to help the essential local facility stay up and running.
The Chesley Hospital Community Support group formed in December 2022 after a group of 12 concerned citizens decided it was time to do something about the recurring closures and reduced hours in the local ER.
Since then, the team has headed several initiatives, including petitions, distributing signage, and hosting a rally to bring awareness to the issue.
“There’s not a lot of time to waste,” said Brenda Scott, co-chair of Chesley Hospital Community Support. “For rural hospitals who are already strained with lack of staffing, summer is their busiest time. You get a lot of people coming up to the cottage, so the population rises with that group. And, it’s farming season. So, you’re going to get farm accidents and those types of things happening.”
On top of the expected increase in demand over the summer months, Scott shared a number of factors that make the Chesley medical facility indispensable to the community.
“It’s a big part of the economy of a small town, and Chesley is no exception,” Scott added. “They’re a big employer, their staff live here among us, and they’re a big part of the economy. So if you lose your hospital, you lose opportunity.”
Scott also pointed out that Amish and Mennonite families in the area would face great challenges traveling to other hospitals for access to urgent care.
This is not the first time community members have attempted to tackle this ongoing problem.
Scott said a group named Friends of Walkerton and Chesley Hospitals previously conducted a study on the frequent ER interruptions and presented their findings to Arran-Elderslie council. The report was adopted by council who then wrote a letter of to the premier and minister of health requesting urgent attention to the matter.
That letter was sent on October 31, 2022, according to Scott. So far – no response.
“[They’re] really giving us the cold shoulder. It’s very dismissive,” Scott said. “It’s dismissive of our issue but it’s also dismissive of our council. They’re our elected representatives, they sent a letter, they should be treated with respect, and they weren’t.”
To garner more support for the cause, Chesley Hospital Community Support has distributed about 200 lawn signs to homes in the area with the message “Save Our Hospital.”
Several petitions were distributed throughout the community in places like grocery stores, medical clinics, the library, and municipal office. As of April 1, Scott said they had collected around 1000 signatures.
The support group held a rally on Saturday afternoon at the Chesley Community Centre. The event offered a cash-only barbecue and bake sale with all proceeds being donated to the Chesley Hospital Foundation.
Scott said the community centre filled up, estimating that 400 to 500 showed up to the rally.
A number of speakers were featured at the event, to whom Scott sang her praises. Local residents shared their own anecdotes and experiences that highlight the importance of the local hospital.
The final speaker was reportedly Natalie Mehra from Ontario Health Coalition. Chesley Hospital Community Support will have help from the provincial organization in planning the next steps of their advocacy.
The plan is to bring the matter straight to Queen’s Park.
Scott explained her group’s intention to drive multiple bus loads of supporters to Ontario’s capital and present their petition to legislators, in hopes of leaders taking some real action on the issue.
For more information on Chesley Hospital Community Support’s initiatives, visit www.chesleyhcs.ca.
Read original story from Midwestern Ontario News – BlackburnNews.com