A local MP is asking officials at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance to make the future of Sydenham District Hospital a priority.
Bev Shipley says it’s been months since Supervisor Rob Devitt took over the reins of the Health Alliance, with the Wallaceburg hospital hanging in the balance.
“Wallaceburg digs deep when they need to,” Shipley says. “When they raised money, a couple of million dollars to put into intensive care, there was funding that came and helped them with emergency, that equipment just sort of vaporized itself out of Wallaceburg and went to Chatham. Those things you don’t forget. The removal of services to people in Wallaceburg is like a domino effect.”
Shipley sent a letter to both Devitt and interim CEO Ken Deane earlier this week, asking for a status updated to be delivered directly to the residents and hospital staff in Wallaceburg.
“This is about providing health care,” Shipley says. “Really what they want, have a community meeting and let’s talk about where they’re at, just give them a status report.”
Shipley says residents are concerned about what he calls as the “pedestrian pace” of change at SDH.
