Community Living Wallaceburg has added its voice to those opposed to a Chatham-Kent Health Alliance proposal by administration to eliminate 24-hour emergency medical service in Wallaceburg.
In an open letter to Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network acting CEO Ralph Ganter, Community Living board president Derek McGiven said his board believes “the plan to be a grievous mistake that may cost the people we support, our employees and our community, their health and well-being.”
Community Living Wallaceburg provides 400 individuals and their families throughout Chatham-Kent with services including accommodations as well as community and employment supports.
Approximately 170 clients are served in the immediate Wallaceburg area including those in supported group and independent living who live in a more than a dozen residences.
“Throughout our history, Community Living Wallaceburg has relied upon the Sydenham hospital and its 24-hour emergency medical service in our mission to assist the people we support to participate proudly in an inclusive community,” the letter continues.
“Access to these local health-care services has ensured that the people we support receive excellent care; preserving their health, well-being and quality of life. “Our Wallaceburg-based organization, through our caring employees, provides an extensive range of services around the clock to a medically vulnerable population.
“This population, along with the entire community of Wallaceburg, will suffer immediate and damaging impacts should we lose this essential service.
“Without a plan that ensures that a fully functional 24-hour emergency department is available within Wallaceburg, lives will be at risk.
“The current proposal to remove these essential services from Wallaceburg presents an unacceptable reduction in necessary health services and places little value on our residents need for access to vital healthcare. The individuals that we support, our dedicated employees and our broader community deserve a fully functional, local, and independent 24-hour emergency department.”
A full text of the letter can be found here.
The letter was copied to local members of Chatham-Kent council, local MPs and MPPs, and provincial health minister Dr. Eric Hoskins.
The status of emergency care in Wallaceburg exacerbated a rift between the Sydenham District Hospital board and the boards of Public General and St. Joseph’s hospitals, the three corporations that form the CKHA.
When the Wallaceburg board would not endorse the proposal to replace the SDH emergency department with a part-time walk-in clinic with no physicians on site, the Chatham-based board suspended governance in April.
Since that time, the health minister guaranteed 24-hour emergency service in Wallaceburg, a move supported by Walpole Island First Nations and St. Clair Township and a survey undertaken by the Ontario Health Coalition.
Chatham-Kent council deferred any decision on the matter last month while it waits to hear for input from hospital administrators.
The Chatham portion of the former alliance has developed a plan with the Chatham-Kent Community Health Centres and Canadian Mental Health Association and is seeking $35 million for development of a clinic in Wallaceburg and upgrading the Chatham ER.
SDH is preparing a plan for a centralized health facility in Wallaceburg with traditional emergency room capability.
Governance and management of the CKHA is currently under investigation by a provincial appointee in order to assess public confidence in the institution.
Both plans will need LHIN approval.
Officials of the LHIN were not available for comment.
