By Vance Badawey, Mayor of the Niagara, Ontario city of Port Colborne
(A Brief Preface by Niagara At Large – Given that the Niagara Health System pushed ahead with its plans to site a new mega-hospital for Niagara in the region’s north end rather than somewhere more central, Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey has been an ongoing voice for finding new ways of providing acute care services in Niagara’s southern tier.
In this post, he urges NHS supervisor Kevin Smith to follow through on plans for Urgent Care Centres in the region’s southern tier. If you are wondering what Urgent Care Centres or UCCs are, Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care defines them as facilitites that “can provide diagnosis and treatment for most injuries and illnesses through emergency trained doctors and other health care professionals. … “Some Urgent Care Centres,” the ministry goes on, “may offer follow-up appointments to see how your recovery from illness/injury is progressing.”
Now here is Mayor Badawey’s message to the NHS supervisor.)
Port Colborne Mayor Vance Badawey
While sitting in my hospital bed at the Holland Orthopaedic and Arthritic Centre of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, recovering from knee surgery, I reflect on the health of the Niagara Health System and the current decisions yet to be made within the Niagara Health System – in particular, Dr. Kevin Smith’s expected announcement of the location of the two Urgent Care Centres.
Our position continues to be consistent with the unanimous recommendation the southern tier mayors and the Niagara Regional Chair brought forward to NHS supervisor Dr. Smith – two sites for his consideration, conditional upon the two UCCs being placed in Port Colborne and Fort Erie. The City of Port Colborne’s preference is the highway 140/East Main Street location for a new South Niagara hospital.
Now that Smith has chosen the Lyon’s Creek site (for a south Niagara hospital), it places Port Colborne and Wainfleet most vulnerable and, therefore, a UCC must be placed in Port Colborne as per the condition passed unanimously by all southern tier mayors and the Regional Chair.
I was extremely adamant when meeting with the mayors and Regional Chair when support was called upon for the recommendation – that a UCC must be placed in Port Colborne, otherwise the recommendation is off the table. They agreed, hence the recommendation being unanimously supported.
As Dr. Smith has put a great deal of emphasis on the southern tier mayors and Regional Chair making the unanimous selection of the two sites which led him to his recommendation of Lyon’s Creek, I would expect he would be equally consistent by putting an emphasis on the unanimous condition attached to the recommendation unanimously brought forward by the southern tier mayors and Regional Chair.
Dr. Smith has been extremely adamant that his recommendation be validated due to the unanimous recommendation by the location of the Southern Tier mayors and Regional Chair. I remind Dr. Smith that this unanimous recommendation was based on a condition that the UCCs remain in Port Colborne and Fort Erie.
(Niagara At Large encourages all visitors to this site to share their views on this post or any other posts NAL has posted. Divergent views are most welcome in the spirit of NAL’s goal to operate as a virtual town hall for discussing and debating issues of interest and concern to our communities and countries across the greater Niagara region and beyond.)
Niagara At Large 
Vance Badawey is to be commended as a steady, reliable southern tier mayor. He has the best Medicare delivery system for his town in mind, I think. But his NAL submission to the NHS psuedo-Dr K Smith is almost incomprehensible gobbledygook – less political ‘nod & wink’ than a kind of warning ‘frown & shake’ of the head. All inside stuff methinks. However, being satisfied with one or two UCC’s (whatever they are supposed to be) is like giving up and abandoning ship.
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Welll said and a necessary reminder to the NHS Mayor Badaway. They have a history of short memory and blatant reniging on promises. Most recent transgression was the Smith assurance that the HIP reprecussion investigation would move forward. I am sure Mr Mayor that you and the other tripartite committee members are still smarting over that lost opportunity granted us by the Minister of Health.
Another Smith recommendation to move Mat/Peds and other services to the far North Niagara was done so with the assurance they would return to a non-existant Southern Tier Hospital. Since one move was tied to the other does it now negate the relocation?? One assumes it was just another masterful promise to sell the concept to the Southern Tier by dangling the promise of a new Hospital. Sad to say so many bought into it . Memories of NHS duplicity should not have faded so fast.
Smith will move on and I picture him standing beside McGuinty in front of a bomb devastated landscape,,,,Our work is done here.
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Dr. Hogg
I could not agree with you more and when I see Matthews sitting beside Wynne as her Vice Premier i gag with contempt for these people who rubber stamped the hypocritical travesty of a fat cat group called the NHS and Board. A caring group, You Included Sir, fought vainly to instill a sense of intelligence(and if NOT intelligence) then at least honesty into the rabble who derailed our vaunted Health care as we had known it for years in the southern tier of this Region.
They the Government, allowed their protege the NHS (and Probably demanded) to bring in a high priced group of Doctors from Ottawa to quell dissent and in so doing permit the totally hated HIP to be instituted as written by the NHS and Board. Their indulgence stirred up a bee’s nest of anger and resentment and because of this the President and CEO Sevenpifer was relieved of her role but NOT before a replacement was hired and sat in the woods before replacing her.
Before we get too drawn away from facts the NHS came into existence during the horrid Progressive Conservative reign of Mike Harris aided and abetted by Hudak and company. The Region ‘s existence was another Progressive Conservative gem that brought extra layers of governance as a shield over transparency and which enabled them to operate with little or no opposition. Thus the closing of Hospitals began in earnest and the Liberals came into power and continued down the road to privatization. Many of us were there along with Andrea Howartth and her people but the only one from the Liberals was MPP Craitor. HUDAK was never at ANY meetings, rallies or whatever.
Thank You Doug, Thank You Susan and Pat, Thank you the Yellow Shirts and Thank You Dr. Hogg
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