Urgent care centres in the southern Ontario communities of Port Colborne and Fort Erie will no longer operate overnight as Niagara Health faces physician shortages, the hospital network announced Wednesday.
The decision comes one day before the ER in Minden, Ont., is set to close permanently due to staff shortages, with Haliburton Highlands Health Services transferring all emergency services to its Haliburton site, about 25 kilometres away.
“After looking at all our options, reducing late night and early morning coverage in the Fort Erie and Port Colborne UCCs was deemed the absolute least disruptive way to address the challenges we are facing,” she said. Niagara Health's emergency department physician group had warned that in the coming months the ERs would have been short 274 physician shifts, Guerriero said.A spokesperson said the decision is considered permanent at this time, as Niagara Health doesn't believe the staff shortages will be resolved any time soon.Jeff Burch, who represents Niagara Centre for the NDP in the legislature, said he is “extremely concerned and disappointed” by the overnight urgent care closures.
“With the recent closure of after-hour emergency surgical services at the Welland Hospital, South Niagara families are being disproportionately impacted.”
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