By Doug Draper
As a grandmother of deceased Fort Erie teen Reilly Anzovino and other Niagara south residents looked on this May 5 from the gallery of the Queen’s Park legislature, the province’s health minister, Deb Matthews, continued to insist that hospital services are improving in the region under the management of the Niagara Health System.
Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews - Niagara's hospital services are improving.
The Liberal minister also told Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath under questioning that recent reports that the NHS, the body responsible for operating most of the hospitals in Niagara, is moving to close up to 120 beds at the Welland hospital site are “completely untrue (and) based on unfounded information.”
Matthews added that “the focus on improving improving care in Niagara (including increasing visits to “urgent care centres” in Fort Erie and Port Colborne where the NHS closed hospital emergency rooms more than a year ago) is strong (and) it is showing results.”
“The pain and the suffering caused by problems in Niagara’s health care system are staggering. Patricia Anzovino, the grandmother of Reilly Anzovino, is with us here today. Reilly tragically died as her ambulance approached the Welland Hospital because the nearby Fort Erie emergency room was closed,” charged Andrea Horwath with reference to the 18-year-old teen who died after an ambulance rushed her from a traffic accident that occurred in her hometown in December, 2009 to a still-open emergency room at the Welland hospital. “Every resident in Niagara is left wondering whether the health care services they need are going to be there for them when they’re required the most.”
Reilly Anzovino
Patricia Anzovino was joined at the provincial legislature by several members of the Yellow Shirt Brigade, a group of mostly Niagara south residents fighting for fair, accessible access to hospital care.
An Ontario coroner’s inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Reilly Anzovino is expected to commence later this year.
Sue Salzer, a Fort Erie resident and head of the Yellow Shirt Brigade who was there at Queen’s Park, forwarded some of the following words to Niagara At Large; “Nine members of the Yellow Shirt Brigade made yet another appearance at Queens Park. Today’s trip was in support of the Municipal Mayors’s (and recent Niagara regional council’s) request for an independent review of the Niagara Health System’s ‘Hospital Improvement Plan’.
As Mayor Vance Badaway of Port Colborned so eloquently stated … our patience too is wearing thin. It’s been a very long two years here in (Niagara’s) Southern tier and it’s time that the results in health care created by the HIP be thoroughly looked at. No plan should be etched in stone … especially a plan that has resulted in causing such serious systemic problems.
Although no direct answer was received during session the Health Minister visited with us and assured an answer would “shortly be forthcoming…we are working on it”
If our trip helped speed up the process then its Mission accomplished.
We send thanks to the many MPPs who took time to acknowledge our efforts including Andrea Horwath, Kim Craitor (Liberal, Niagara Falls riding , Elizabeth Whittmore (Conservative health critic) and … so many others who go out of their way to thank us for our continuing mission.
Niagara At Large is posting below the full transcript of the May 5 exchange between NDP leader Andrea Horwath and Health Minister Deb Matthews for your information. And below that, we encourage you to share your own comments on this issue.
Ms. Andrea Horwath: As already has been mentioned, we’re joined at Queen’s Park today by members of the Yellow Shirt Brigade. These community members have fought tirelessly to protect and restore health care in Niagara. As emergency rooms, medical beds and operating rooms close in Port Colborne and Fort Erie, as Niagara regional council and eight municipalities have passed resolutions requesting an independent investigation into the Niagara Health System, as over 13,000 signatures have been collected, the yellow shirts have fought endlessly to bring attention to the problems in Niagara. After ignoring Niagara’s elected officials, will she do the same to the region’s community activists?
Hon. Deborah Matthews: I have to say that I really object to the tenor of that question. We are working very hard to improve health care in the Niagara area. We do understand that there are issues that we need to address, and we are working hard to find those solutions.
Earlier this week, the member opposite raised an issue that was a complete—let me just offer clarification about long-term-care beds, because there was some misinformation in this House on that issue. There was speculation that there were beds being closed. That is completely untrue, and the question was based on unfounded information.
What I think is important to do is that all of us together have a responsibility to the people we serve as well as to our political parties. I would ask the member opposite to think about what she’s doing to health care in Niagara.
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?
Ms. Andrea Horwath: The pain and suffering caused by problems in Niagara’s health care system are staggering. Patricia Anzovino, the grandmother of Reilly Anzovino, is with us here today. Reilly tragically died as her ambulance approached the Welland Hospital because the nearby Fort Erie emergency room was closed. Every resident in Niagara is left wondering whether the health care services they need are going to be there for them when they’re required the most.
Today, the Minister of Health finally stop denying the situation in Niagara, which she continues to do right up until this very minute, and explain to the yellow shirts and all of their fellow citizens in the Niagara region how her government plans to address the problems that truly do exist in their region?
Hon. Deborah Matthews: I’d like to begin by offering my condolences to the grandmother who is represented here today. I think all of us can only imagine what you are dealing with and I very much look forward to the coroner’s report. I know that the coroner is investigating this tragedy.
What I can tell you is that the focus on improving care in Niagara is strong, it is showing results. The urgent care centres in Fort Erie and Port Colborne are seeing higher volumes. The urgent care centres are seeing higher volumes and they are seeing shorter wait times. We’re seeing dramatically shorter wait times for procedures like hip—
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. New question.
Niagara At Large 
When is the provincial election?
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I have to disagree with Andrea Horvath’s broad statement: Reilly tragically died as her ambulance approached the Welland Hospital because the nearby Fort Erie emergency room was closed. To me, it smacks of nothing more than political posturing.
It is yet to be determined whether Reilly would have survived if she were able to be transported to Douglas Memorial. Truth is that DMH was never equipped for trauma care, even when it was running at full strength. A recent accident not too far from where Reilly had hers offered a different option: the patient was transported to Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo, NY. Still too far, perhaps, to save Reilly. I was very interested in this type of scenario when I served on the Niagara District Health Council several years ago. A friend’s son, who had been in a serious accident, was transported to DMH where he stayed for close to an hour, until it was determined that he should be transferred to ECMC. He died shortly after arrival at that trauma hospital. I maintained, and believe to this day, that if he had been transported directly to ECMC from the accident scene, he might still be alive. Protocol of the day called for all patients to go to DMH first and then be transferred if necessary to another hospital. Lives have been lost because of delays in the Golden Hour in such emergencies.
I do not know what Reilly’s injuries were and do not know what measures were undertaken en route to Welland Hospital, but the declaration that she would have been saved had she been taken to DMH is unrealistic.
Yes, DMH needs to be fully re-opened to its previous state. We have a growing population in Fort Erie and many in that population are seniors who need to have a nearby, fully functioning hospital rather than a walk-in clinic to see to their needs. DMH as a trauma-ready hospital? Not feasible under the best of conditions.
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Sharon,
Whose side are you on…. the people who want to retain an ER or the Ministry of Health, who does not? Your comments will play right into the hands of the MoH, LHIN and NHS, who insist we in the southern tier do not need an ER…. as a fully staffed and equipped ER will be provided in west St. Catharines.
Have you read the Hospital Improvement Plan (HIP)? I have. If you read it you will see the government’s plan is to shut down ERs in both Port Colborne and Fort Erie and to eventually remove the Urgent Care Centres out of these hospitals as well. Both former hospitals are currently nursing homes. That is all they will be in the future.
Read more of the HIP and you will also discover Niagara Falls and Welland hospitals will also be dismantled, with Welland taking the biggest hit. Seven surgical specialties will be removed from Welland, which according to Welland physicians, will result in the removal of their vital ER.
Then southern tier residents will have to travel to west St. Catharines for emergency services at the new hospital.
When this happens, then there will be a number of people who will not reach that distant hospital in the “Golden Hour” you described.
Whether or not Reilly Anzovino might have survived with a local ER on hand does not necessarily prove other scenarios might not occur whereby a local doctor is available to assess, stabilize and transfer , with better patient outcome. I have spoken to many doctors who have insisted stabalizing and transferring results in better patient outcome, than traveling substantial distances for care. I have also spoken to patients with heart attacks who have said they would not have survived if Port Colborne hospital had not been there to stabilize them.
Minister Matthew’s comments to the Anzovino family to ensure them Niagara has a better health care system now and their urgent care centres are working better than ever is an absolute affront to the Anzovino family.
If you believe in retaining the ER and hospital at DMH, then you should be joining the Yellow Shirt Brigade to fight for timely and reasonable access to adequate health care for all Niagarans.
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My comments are my opinion. I am not a fan of the MoH, but I also remember the Harris years. Those of us on the Health Council were practically ordered to find ways to save money and a special committee made recommendations that the ERs in Fort Erie and Port Colborne be closed. We did not want that to happen, but we were powerless to change the directive. For that, we got death threats. The hospitals were only saved when the Rural Health Policy was implemented. Unfortunately, it was not made a permanent policy or we wouldn’t be having this conversation. While you and Reilly’s extended family rightly mourn her loss, I mourn for my friend’s son. They both deserved better care from our health system. I just can’t go as far as Andrea Horvath went to blame Reilly’s death on the fact that the ER at DMH was closed. Perhaps you have information that proves her right. I look forward to seeing justice done in this regard. I also support the Yellow Shirt Brigade’s efforts. But, I also remember that a man’s tragic death was used by people who were making a case against the “slow ambulance response time” in the late 1990s. The man died instantly, but his death was used to lay blame on the ambulance service. The family of the person became very upset, thinking that the man could have been saved if the ambulance had arrived sooner. It became a very painful time for everyone involved. A lesson learned to not lay blame before all the facts are presented.
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Well said, Pat. I agree totally. Further, I would suggest that we need an NDP government for Ontario.
Doctors can stabilize patients, the sooner, the better, and they need to be in a well-equipped E.R to do so efficiently.
The “political posturing” is currently being practiced by the provincial Liberals. I would hope that the Liberals will become obsolete, sooner rather than later.
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Sharon Bowers tenure with the Niagara District Health Council must have been “MORE” than several years ago and she is right in that the context of her statements about the Harris (Conservative) decrees BUT Now she seems to be defensive of the Liberal fiasco which to many will seem like, using her own words, political posturing.
Yes! I don’t know you but I have a question, actually a few questions
(1) While the NHS was recording astronomical why did the Administration still receive yearly increases?
(2) Why was the Grand old VON was literally eliminated, destroyed by Smitherman who was also responsiblefor the eHealth scandal, Privatization????
(3) Were you ever involved in all the meetings, rallies and trips to Queens Park attempting to restore the Hospitals in Port Colborne and or Fort Erie??? Andrea Horwath was at them all supporting the peoples of the Niagara Southern Tier. In your Case If NOT why NOT?
(4) Were you aware of the backroom deals and public consultations by invitation only put together by the NHS and the LHINs??
(5) Did you attend the only open to then public NHS consultation that was held in the busy hallway of the YMCA in Welland? (They were offered a room but refused)
These questions could go on and on and if you can give a satisfactory answer then you have a tight to you own opinion but please stop cutting up those team players who were and are front and center.
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We need to take the politics out of health care. I am non political. It is a moral issue.
Health care in Canada is universal and is laid out in the Canada Health Act; one of the 5 main principles being Accessibility: All insured persons have reasonable access to health care facilities.
Had your friends son had to be taken to the new hospital in St. Catharines, he may not have made it there either. That distance is too far to serve Niagara residents as the only trauma and emergency centre, which is ultimately the direction of the HIP.
If we all work together hopefully we will be able to convince the current government in power a mistake has been made in the HIP and adjustments will have to be made to provide all residents of Niagara reasonable and safe access to adequate life saving and emergency services.
The Yellow Shirts are fighting for this.
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I am in no way defending what the Liberals have done to the health care system. I was merely giving my opinion: I believe, that Andrea Horvath is doing herself and the cause’s credibility damage by making such a sweeping statement that Reilly would have survived if Douglas Memorial Hospital’s ER was still open. I wish it was that simple, but it is far more complex. Let’s be realistic: Douglas Memorial Hospital needs to have its ER restored. It should have an IC Unit and critical beds. Certain surgeries should be performed there again and, if possible the OB/GYN services should be restored. But it will never be trauma ready without a massive infusion of money, expertise and equipment.
I could write a book about all the lies we were told when I was on health council. I was an advocate for better mental health services. We went to meeting after meeting talking and planning for better services in Niagara. Nothing happened. Years later, we are still woefully lacking in proper mental health services for the people of Niagara although the suicide rate is extremely high in the area. How many parents have lost their children to suicide that might have been prevented had there been better mental health services available? Let’s remember exactly what we’re fighting for here.
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We are all in this together. No one can disagree that in case of stroke. heart problems and trauma cases we have to provide the BEST opportunity for a good outcome and that would be to give our paramedics best outcome options ,,,,,,some options have been removed.
The problem does not rest with individual cases but with the systemic chaos that implimentation of the HIP have created to date . The list is endless from cancelled surgeries to wait time for a medical bed exceeding an average of 45 hours.
The Health Minister insists in every reply that things are improving here in Niagara and the NHS is doing a stellar job.
If that indeed were the case give us a review of the Hospital “improvement” plan as demanded by our Municipal leaders .
I would think the NHS should be proud to showcase Niagara as the Guinea Pig for reform , amalgamation and privitization in the Health Care System
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Can we all brainstorm how to save enough money from our present NHS to afford to have ERs in Fort Erie and Port Colborne PLUS a high-quality Niagara hospital in St.Kitts (as they have in Hamilton)?
Does it mean :
– cutting medical salaries 5%? 10%? 25%
– putting ALL medical servies under the same budget?
(Why does the Region pay for Ambulances? I’d wager the HIP would be quite different if the NHS paid for Ambulance service!)
– getting rid of chemicals in our farming?
– getting rid of chemicals in our food?
– growing more backyard food?
– getting rid of chemicals in our soaps & grooming?
– shutting down Nanticoke’s coal-fired electricity?
– driving less and walking more?
– eating fewer sweets and meats?
Our Niagara Health System is much different than it was 20 years ago. People attend URs and ERs, not their family doctors (if they have one!), have shorter stays in hospital, and less access to home care. Some of this comes from medical breakthroughs, some from cutbacks.
Let’s hear some of your ideas folks!
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We are really getting off track, aren’t we.
Did you know that when you call an ambulance to take you to the hospital, you automatically have to pay $45. Did you know that money goes to the NHS, even though the Region and the Ministry of Health pay the costs?
We should stop arguing about silly stuff.
The bottom line is the MoH decided to build the new hospital in St. Catharines instead of the geographic centre of Niagara. It was a political decision, not a decision based on best practise.
That location is not adequate to provide timely and adequate access to lifesaving and emergency services in the southern tier.
Consequently the MoH must acknowledge this mistake and correct it by providing ERs with appropriate staff and equipment to stabilize and transfer patients in the southern tier.
We are not asking for trauma centres.
You live in Port Colborne Lorne. Why would you accept less?
Also, whether or not Reilly Anzovino would have survived or not with access to a local ER is not the main question. Are there other scenarios that could occur that would require prompter access to a closer ER is the question that should be answered.
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Off track Pat? Not at all. There are 2 problems here:
1- providing Quality medical/hospital care that OHIP can Afford
2- determining How and Where to make What changes
By asking the question Pat, I learned from you about $45 going to the NHS instead of to the Region. Insanity!
And from Linda about the different skill levels of the Ambulance attendants who serve us. Frightening!
Elsewhere, Linda suggested that we ask front-line OHIP workers where to save dollars. I’ve often suggested that governments should ask their civil servants for suggestions, with replies going directly to the politicians to implement them, rather than to the senior managers who love empire-building. And this needs to happen as soon as a government is elected, regardless of party, because they seem to quickly become trapped in justifying the way things are, rather than working to improve things
(Remember “Yes, Minister” from the BBC?)
If you don’t think Affordability is an issue, here are some interesting statistics and comments:
– Opposition Leader Hudak was instrumental in getting the Rural Hospital policy passed while Premier Harris was amalgamating hospitals, and it Is too bad it wasn’t made permanent.
– Premier McGuinty noted in 2010 that Medical costs have increased from
~25% of the provincial budget when he was elected in 2003, to
~45% in 2010. At that rate, we soon won’t have highways & schools.
– Wasn’t it Premier Bob Rae’s government that cut back on how many doctors we graduated in order to reduce costs? Every party has to face this issue … there are No Simple Answers.
– Ontario has ~Half the population of New York State with ~Twice the budget Deficit. New York’s cutting and hacking, while Ontario’s done next to nothing but pray for better times to generate more tax revenue to cover rising government services … at the same time that private sector wages are reduced to minimum wage levels, as Mark noted elsewhere. We’re in Trouble.
– CBC Radio’s Fresh Air on Sat. 2011-05-07 interviewed Marian Walsh, CEO of Bridgepoint Health in Toronto, discussing ‘the sandwich generation’ who care for their children & parents at the same time. She noted that:
a/ through medical advances, we have people Living for ~20 years who used to Die … but they require a lot more medical care.
b/ most people over 65 have 3 chronic health conditions
Listen: http://www.cbc.ca/freshair/
Info : http://www.bridgepointhealth.ca/
– Just heard from a friend whose son is working in France and got sick enough to call the Paris medical system. They took his name, phone & address … and SENT A DOCTOR TO HIS DOOR to treat him within 30 minutes! There Are other ways to do things.
If we all don’t consciously work on getting healthier as individuals & society, maintaining health, and on figuring ways to wisely cut costs, our slow slide we’ve seen in facilities will escalate dramatically … and my cohort is the first of the Boomers ….
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Another bottom line is values. Despite an aging population and increased poverty, many Canadian voters have been lead to believe that other things (jets etc.) are more important than adequate, universal health care.
When manufacturing leaves town for sunnier climes or China, those jobs are “replaced” by poor paying jobs (Walmart, Call Centers etc.) And now many Canadian voters have chosen to pay more for more expensive, less efficient health care models.
The provincial NDP’s have been more supportive of universal health care, adequate emergency services etc.
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Decision made Mark.
It took the recent post from Mr Draper on new Chair at the LHIN to convince me that for the first time in my considerable years I will be joining a political party and will campaign with vigor to see the downfall of a Government who has left our Health Services in third world country status.
My daughter returned from ER nursing in Haiti. They did not wait 45 hours to get a patient into a medical bed,,how sad is that.
Our Emergency rooms greet us with Security Guards instead of Candy Stripers….how sad is that
The NHS suggests to shorten wait-times for knee replacement to go elsewhere,,,how sad is that
Once again the arrogant Liberal appointments to the LHIN Board have overlooked both the Southern tier and the Medical Community .
I for one have had more then enough.
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I am very curious as to how many people making comments, including government ministers, have medical training (not just some degree or office job in administration as opposed to front line services) or have worked in the NHS system itself recently. It is going down the toilet and its decline has been speeded up by both Lib. and Cons. gov’ts in the last 20 years so pointing political fingers is a waste of time. They both suck – BIG TIME. Politicians are, by and large, in that occupation for whatever they can get.
As for Reilly’s chances of survival, I suspect they were very slim BUT she DESERVED a chance as do we all. There are too many unanswered questions. What level were the paramedics who picked up Reilly? Some, in spite of the ER closures, cannot even initiate IV therapy which could make a vital difference. I do not know if they were qualified, perhaps they were. The point is, closures were done haphazardly before compensatory protocols such as availability of advanced level paramedics on all ambulances were put into place. That is sheer stupidity something akin to saying “Hooray, we have landed on the moon – now how in hell do we get back home?” Do whatever we want to save a buck or inflate our egos as big innovators and worry about the consequences later, if at all. Considering the governmnent thinks its HIP’s are so wonderful and well thought out, the results are less than stellar.
Time for an uprising if only our apathetic citizenry would get off their butts and pry themselves away from the TV for five minutes. Sadly, as demonstrated by our recent election, that ain’t gonna’ happen. Good luck everyone. Hope you can afford private insurance. Perhaps we can go the US route and rank 37th in health care, behind Costa Rica and ahead of Slovenia, as they do. ‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.
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Thanks, Linda. You said what I was trying to say, but much more clearly.
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I believe Linda’s is the voice of front-line hospital workers, not the self-interested voice of administrators or Liberal/Conservative politicians who disregard qualified medical advice and reports regarding health care issues.
Neither the Liberals nor the Conservatives can be trusted to deliver the quality health care that ALL Canadians deserve.
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Why on earth would someone with no front line experience or with a degree in business administration or accounting ask or consider the valuable input of people who have first hand knowledge of the conditions, remedies and waste in the health care sysytem? Any front line nurse or physician could give hundreds of examples of waste and misuse of resources.
It was always quite obvious to me that someone in high heels and a skirt wasn’t much of an asset to patient care. We did quite well in the past without such individuals. I had been employed in the same institution for deecades and had no idea who most of these people (who recently appeared in increasing numbers) were or what on earth they did. My opinion is they drew a salary but did very little that was productive. Many created more paperwork that simply took staff away from their valuable work. (They had to justify themselves somehow.) An example that made me laugh was the “Falls risk and assessment tool” Any idiot knows if someone has dementia, is blind, sedated and has one leg, they are a falls risk but, oh my God, have to fill out a big long form that gets shoved at the back of the chart before you can figure that one out! What a waste of time – BUT – the gov’t I suppose requires reams of these forms to cover their behinds so they can be accredited. As long as the paper work is in order, everything must be right in the universe. Meanwhile people are lying in beds full of poop and stashed in a busy hallway. YEEHAW! The paper work is done.
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Lorne mentioned the French doctor visiting the patient at the patient’s house. Again, it’s a question of values. It’s about valuing humans more than profit making.
Another interesting point regarding values: the Americans supposedly spend more on their military than all of the other countries in the world combined.
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Do you think French doctors are self-employed business people operating under a single-payer OHIP-like system? Or are they employees of the French Republic?
Perhaps ‘Profit’ has nothing to do with it – maybe France has just found a better, cheaper way to run their single-payer public health system than Ontario has….
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While the Americans far over-value their military, Canadians really value living under the American military umbrella. We are so well-protected from world dictators that we imagine we don’t even need armed forces; we let our military shrink so much over the past few decades that we even had to abandon Peace Keeping for the UN….
Now, we’re having to do Peace Making and it’s costly to catch up. Too bad it’s happening at the same time as we’re facing a crisis in OHIP costs….
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The Americans support compliant dictators so that they can extract profits, i.e oil. If more of the Arab world was democratic, they would want the Americans out, which isn’t what the Americans want. The Americans, as an example, supported Mubarak, until such time as it was seen as not convenient. Next they will want to support another authoritarian ruler there, if possible. The amount of money the Americans spend on military is quite disgusting when so many of their own people are suffering without sufficient health care.
I wrote an article earlier about a single-payer (universal)health care system: it’s better, more efficient, more cost-effective.
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“Profit” in health care means Insurance Companies dictating their terms and fees. Poor, unhealthy people will be left in the cold. Insurance companies like to make money, and they make plenty of it. A friend of mine who doesn’t have a health plan needs a root canal: $1,000.00. And then there’s the matter of P3 hospitals …
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