Organized by the Save the Minden Emergency Department Facebook group, a number of area residents made a second trip to Queen’s Park yesterday seeking a one-year moratorium on the closure of the emergency department at the Minden hospital.
The petition featured more than 17 thousand signatures asking to push back the June 1 closure of the ER.
NDP Health Critic France Gélinas, and MPP Chris Glover, were on-hand to lend their voices to local residents.
Gelinas says it’s unconscionable for Health Minister Sylvia Jones to suggest she has no power to stop the decision which she says goes against the interest of the community. She says the minister must take responsibility, listen to residents and stop the closure to find solutions, not a sudden loss of access to healthcare.
Haliburton Highlands Health Services announced that the Emergency Room in Minden would close as of June 1 and all emergency services would be transferred to its Haliburton location, 25 kilometres away.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones said it is a local decision, made by local hospital leadership.