Rural Ontario town feels 'blindsided,' in state of emergency over removal of hospital's in-patient beds
CBC
Paul Sammut says quick access to the Durham, Ont., hospital saved his life after a serious cycling accident that required he get immediate medical attention.
Sammut was cycling on a rural road just north of the town in 2010 when his bike malfunctioned and he went over the handlebars, slamming into the roadway. He suffered serious injuries to his face and neck.
He said receiving care within minutes of his accident, rather than being taken to a hospital in another community, was crucial.
"I don't think I would have made it."
Hospital staff "immediately put me into a gurney and said if I had moved inches, more I would have died from a broken neck, and so they literally saved my life."
That accident led to Sammut becoming an advocate for the hospital. Now, he's raising concerns about in-patient beds being moved from Durham, which has a population of about 2,500, to other hospitals within the South Bruce Grey Health Centre's network as of this Monday.
There's so much concern over the move that the Municipality of West Grey declared a state of emergency this week.
"It's so important to keep this facility open," Sammut told CBC News while standing on the grass in front of the hospital.
"I'm an unbelievable, tremendous supporter of having tremendous health care in the area. And it's fantastic for all of the folks here," he said. "It means the health of our community, the health of our people, especially as they get older."
The South Bruce Grey Health Centre operates four hospital sites in:
Earlier this month, the health centre announced it would be moving 10 in-patient beds out of the Durham hospital to hospitals in Walkerton and Kincardine, 30-minute and hour-long drives, respectively, from Durham. Previously, the Durham hospital's emergency department hours were open 24/7, but were shortened in March to 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
While the Hanover hospital is closer to Durham than the other three, it's not part of the health centre's network and is run independently.
The health centre said in a statement on its website that moving in-patient beds was necessary "due to a critical shortage of staff" that would only get worse over the summer and "this decision was made with the safety of our patients and staff top of mind."
Nancy Shaw, the health centre's president and CEO, said in an interview that staffing shortages in Durham have been an issue for years.
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