A Commentary by Pat Scholfield
The Niagara Region turned down a motion for an investigation into the Niagara Health System (NHS) by a vote of 16 to 11.
Hospital care advocate Pat Scholfield
Below is a brief list of reasons why an investigation of the NHS is needed.
· The Ontario Health Coalition held health hearings across Ontario in March and discovered Niagara had the worse access to hospital care, and recommended there be an investigation of the NHS under the Public Hospitals Act.
· Seven municipalities in Niagara voted to have an investigation of the NHS: St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Thorold, Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Wainfleet and Welland
· ER wait times for complex cases in the province are 11.3 hours.
St. Catharines General Hospital 19.7, Greater Niagara General Hospital 16.0
Welland County General Hospital 19.1 hours.
· Niagara Emergency Medical Services (NEMS) recently reported off-load delays are escalating dramatically in spite of numerous attempts by the NHS to mitigate this problem. NEMS report states the main problem has occurred since ERs have been converted in Port Colborne and Fort Erie…and there is a lack of beds.
· Backlogs and long wait times in ERs are also creating problems for Niagara Regional Police.
· The LHIN, the oversight agency for the NHS reported June 15 the NHS performed poorly in all three areas; Financial, Clinical and Quality. Because of poor performance the LHIN withdrew $600,000 of their funding.
· The Medical Staff Association of Niagara previously passed a non-confidence vote of the NHS management.
· The Ontario Nurses Association has censured the NHS since 2003.
If this isn’t sufficient to convince you an investigation is required, then how about the fact the Ombudsman discovered the LHIN public consultation process to approve the Hospital Improvement Plan (HIP) had illegal aspects…and the NHS now acknowledges they did not have time for a proper public consultation in preparing the HIP.
These are some of the reasons why an impartial investigation (or review) is necessary to assure all citizens of Niagara the hospital system will provide timely and equitable access to all Niagarans. We are supposed to be One Niagara. Let all regional councilors show us this is true.
(Pat Scholfield is a Port Colborne resident, representative of the Peoples Health Care Coalition and long-time citizen advocate for equitable, accessible hospital services for all the region’s residents.)
(Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater binational Niagara region.)
Niagara At Large 
There isn’t a person that I know of that can say our Health System is running smoothly and efficiently. Why isn’t it ,is a fair question. Why are there such long wait times ?… answer …. because there aren’t enough beds!!
If this is the case, why are they still cutting beds?? Is it because they do not know how to budget the enormous amounts of $$$$$ handed to them and keep falling deeper & deeper in debt? Why are they saying an investigation is not necessary ….. All of the reasons given by Pat Scholfield are factual, legitimate reasons for having another investigation . The people want it , the councils voted for it and the Regions responsibility is to honour the wishes of the majority! What happened there??? Why aren’t our regional representatives carrying out the wishes of the people and their own councils? That is their mandate……. it doesn’t matter what they think personally , its what their constituents want! Hopefully this is a wake up call for voters on Oct. 25. If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to keep getting what we’re getting!!!!!!!
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