‘We need to stand up for ourselves’
Local residents asked to rally against emergency room closures
Northside residents will rally against emergency room closures at the Northside General Hospital.
A group of local residents have organized a march to show their frustration with the number of ER closures in recent months.
The rally will begin Saturday at 12 p.m. at the Irving station on Commercial Street in North Sydney.
Protesters will march down the community’s main street to MLA Eddie Orrell’s office, where the group will gather to talk, listen and ask questions about services provided at the hospital.
“Our emergency room is closed more than it’s open,” said Lisa Bond, rally organizer.
“We’ve had multiple instances in the last couple of months where there were ambulances backed up waiting to drop people off at the hospital — we need our hospital and if there are ambulances parked at the hospital, they’re not out in the community.”
The event will also include guest speakers from the Northside community, including Dr. Harry Pollet, who works in the pain clinic at the hospital and will soon be retiring.
“There are still a lot of us who don’t have family doctors — a few of us managed to get them, but there’s plenty that don’t have family doctors and are taking ambulances to Sydney and people can’t afford it.”
Last December, the Nova Scotia Health Authority announced changes to the hospital’s emergency room hours, adding an extra hour of service, opening from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. daily, instead of closing at 3 p.m.
At the same time, a new patient capacity process also came into effect — if capacity is reached within the department, people who are registered and waiting to see a doctor may not necessarily be seen that day.
Bond doesn’t believe the new process has made things better at the hospital, noting she still checks the Cape Breton Post to know when the department is closed.
“It terrifies me,” said Bond. “No Canadian should have to deal with that. We have free health care, this is where our taxes go.
“A lot of our elderly residents on the Northside are fearful for their lives, they feel the government is just waiting for them to die and I’ve heard that from a lot of people.”
Bond has invited Health and Wellness Minister Randy Delorey to attend the rally on Saturday, however she never received a response as of press time.
“I have called him 33 times now without
a response — I’ve left 33 messages for him (since the end of February),” said Bond. “I’ve asked for a call back about our emergency room closures and people not having doctors.”
Bond encourages residents from across Cape Breton to participate in the rally.
“We need to stand up for ourselves, we need to make it known that we’re not going to lay back and let them (the government) walk over us,” said Bond.
“I would love to see all of Cape Breton show up. We’re all facing the same problems at our hospitals with closures.”
Meanwhile, the Northside General Hospital’s emergency room will be closed on Sunday, reopening on Monday at 8 a.m., because of the unavailability of doctors to cover the shift.
For more information about the event, visit Save Our Services NSG on Facebook or phone 902-304-4626.