NDP concerned about Welland hospital after-hours emergency surgery cuts

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles is calling on the provincial government to increase access to public health care, including in Welland where after-hours emergency surgeries will no longer take place starting Monday.

Concerns have been rising after Niagara Health announced earlier this month that its Welland site will no longer be available for after-hours emergency surgeries.

Nearby residents will be forced to drive to either St. Catharines or Niagara Falls for critical cases.

The emergency department in Welland will continue to operate 24 hours a day for 7 days a week, but there is no possibility for emergency surgeries to take place at night or on the weekend beginning Feb. 27.

The operating room at the Welland site will remain in operation from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays for scheduled surgical procedures only.

READ MORE: Welland community fighting to stop Niagara Health cuts

“Frontline health care workers are concerned about the impacts this will have on their community – and I share those concerns,” Stiles said.

She said the Ford government is making a clear choice to withhold billions of dollars in health-care spending.

“We could be funding solutions in public health right now – instead, Ford’s decision is creating a staffing crisis in our health care system that he has no interest in fixing,” Stiles said.

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Stiles spoke from the parking lot at The Hope Centre in the company of MPP Jeff Burch for Niagara Centre and MPP Wayne Gates for Niagara Falls.

Niagara Health has said its “immediate challenge is a global shortage of anesthesiologists,” which is impacting its ability to perform surgical procedures at the Welland site.

The health organization also said it had “only 57” after-hours emergency cases in Welland last year.