I would like to introduce a group of residents from Chesley: Faye Bell McClure, Brenda Scott, Ian Scott, Hazel Pratt, Jennifer Shaw, and Isobel Bell, as well as the CEO of the Ontario Health Coalition, Natalie Mehra.

Welcome to your House.

Ma question est pour la ministre de la Santé.

Chesley and District Memorial Hospital has a very hard time meeting its 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week obligation to their emergency department. They serve many seniors and many Amish and Mennonite families who do not drive. They know vulnerable people are dependent upon them. Chesley’s hospital faces human resource shortages. They need more resources. They need this minister’s help.

Hospitals are the biggest responsibility of a Minister of Health. We all know that the minister is all in when it comes to helping investors build private clinics that we don’t need. But the people of Chesley who are here today want to know what this minister is going to do to help public hospitals like Chesley that are struggling right now.

Interjections.

My question is for the Premier.

Mr. Speaker, earlier this year, the emergency room in Chesley, Ontario had its hours limited from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Chesley residents who have emergencies outside of bankers’ hours, according to this government, are just out of luck. Coupled with our family doctor shortage, Ontarians are left with fewer and fewer options, and residents of Chesley are understandably angry.

Last month, hundreds of Chesley residents protested the ER’s extended closures, even organizing the petition that will be read into the record later today. The people of Chesley have had enough of this government’s inaction as the province’s health care crisis sweeps through their community.

Will the Premier drop his appeal of Bill 124, address the staffing crisis, adequately fund our hospitals, and keep emergency rooms open across Ontario?

The health care crisis in Chesley is not a one-off; it’s merely the tip of the iceberg. Unless this government changes course, it will happen again and again and again.

For the people in Chesley without a family doctor, who can’t drive half an hour when they’re having a heart attack and need emergency room access, what does the Premier recommend they do in a medical emergency?

This is a petition regarding the Chesley and District Memorial Hospital, and there are 1,262 signatures.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Chesley and District Memorial Hospital, originally donated to the town with funds provided by the local Kinsmen Club, was dedicated as a tribute to those local residents injured or killed during the Second World War. This hospital has served the needs of the community of Arran-Elderslie for 79 years with strong support at all times from the residents of the town and other communities in the area as well as from the county and local municipal government; and

“Whereas three times—in 1976, 1978 and 1992—provincial governments have attempted to close the doors of this hospital. In each case local residents protested these moves and each time through their efforts the government backed down and the hospital was saved. Now with the current cancellation and/or reduction of ER services, there is yet another threat to the continued existence of our hospital; and

“Whereas the ER in Chesley hospital serves an area with a total population of 6,900 people. It delivers emergency medical care for the whole constituency of Arran-Elderslie township including the towns of Chesley, Tara, Paisley, and Dobbinton. It also provides services for those living in the nearby villages of Desboro and Elmwood and in the former townships of Brant, Sullivan and Bentinck. A large number of the residents are seniors and the area also includes a large population of Amish and Mennonite families. Many of these residents do not have access to a private automobile and are disadvantaged in the effort to reach health centres in larger communities by the long distance and lack of a public transportation system. They require close proximity to ER and hospital services and that proximity is best provided by the Chesley hospital; and

“Whereas the physician recruitment committee has advised that without a fully functioning ER, it is difficult to recruit and retain doctors and nurses who are interested in maintaining and increasing their skills and who are dependent upon ER duties to support or supplement their income; and

“Whereas Arran-Elderslie council sent a letter addressed to” the “Premier ... and the Minister of Health dated October 31, 2022, requesting action to address this situation and that letter remains unacknowledged and unanswered at this time;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To keep our emergency department at the Chesley hospital open 24/7, by ensuring sufficient funding and fair compensation for nurses and physicians and to address the ongoing operational and labour issues that are impacting our vital emergency department service.”

I fully support this petition, Speaker, and will affix my signature and give it to page Kate.

I present a petition similarly related to the closure of the Chesley hospital.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Chesley and District Memorial Hospital, originally donated to the town with funds provided by the local Kinsmen Club, was dedicated as a tribute to those local residents injured or killed during the Second World War. This hospital has served the needs of the community of Arran-Elderslie for 79 years with strong support at all times from the residents of the town and other communities in the area as well as from the county and local municipal government;

“Whereas three times—in 1976, 1978 and 1992—provincial governments have attempted to close the doors of this hospital. In each case, local residents protested these moves and each time through their efforts the government backed down and the hospital was saved. Now, with the current cancellation and/or reduction of ER services, there is yet another threat to the continued existence of our hospital;

“Whereas the ER in Chesley hospital serves an area with a total population of 6,900 people. It delivers emergency medical care for the whole constituency of Arran-Elderslie township including the towns of Chesley, Tara, Paisley and Dobbinton. It also provides services for those living in the nearby villages of Desboro and Elmwood and in the former townships of Brant, Sullivan and Bentinck. A large number of the residents are seniors and the area also includes a large population of Amish and Mennonite families. Many of these residents do not have access to a private automobile and are disadvantaged in the effort to reach health centres in large communities by the long distance and lack of a public transportation system. They require close proximity to ER and hospital services and that proximity is best served by the Chesley hospital;

“Whereas the physician recruitment committee has advised that without a fully functioning ER, it is difficult to recruit and retain doctors and nurses who are interested in maintaining and increasing their skills and who are dependent upon ER duties to support or supplement their income;

“Whereas Arran-Elderslie council sent a letter addressed to the Premier and the Minister of Health dated October 31, 2022, requesting action to address this situation, and that letter remains unacknowledged and unanswered at this time;

“Therefore we, the undersigned citizens of Arran-Elderslie and surrounding community, call on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to keep our emergency department at the Chesley hospital open 24/7 by ensuring sufficient funding and fair compensation for nurses and physicians and to address the ongoing operational and labour issues that are impacting our vital emergency department service.”

I agree with this petition, affix my signature and hand it to page Sophie.