Queen’s Park – France Gélinas, Ontario NDP Health Critic and Nickel Belt MPP, brought the plight of rural and northern communities to the floor of the Ontario Legislature during Question Period.
“The health care services, emergency rooms, operating rooms, in-patient beds and outpatient services in northern and rural communities are either closing or threatened with closure,” Gélinas said. “When residents in rural Ontario ask about these closures, this government tells them that these decisions are made by the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) and are in their best interest.”
“This government is making decisions for northern and rural communities as if they were urban settings, but they are not,” Gélinas said. ”The policies of the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, is the lens through which LHINs look at rural and northern health care services. These policies have an urban bias,”
“Will the minister commit to reviewing those biased policies and listen to the people of northern and rural Ontario?” Gélinas asked.
The Minister, in response, made reference to a Northern and Rural Health Care Panel set up by the Ontario government to look at rural health care. However, Gélinas pointed out that this panel’s mandate does not include public consultations and the panel is not permitted to look at the importance of rural hospitals.
“People in rural Ontario are sick and tired of being ignored by this government when it decides to cut the very services that bind smaller communities together,” Gélinas said. “The Ontario Health Coalition will hold town hall meetings across Ontario in the coming weeks because the government refuses to consult and I will join the Coalition at several meetings across Ontario.”
For more information on the consultation schedule please visit the Ontario Health coalition website .
