
‘We would appreciate it if local elected officials focused on facts’: Niagara Health, NDP MPP quarrel over fate of Welland hospital
LocalNiagara Health and NDP MPP for Niagara Centre Jeff Burch appear to be at loggerheads over how details regarding present and future surgical services at the former’s Welland site have (or haven’t) been communicated.
In a series of social media posts on Friday, which contained an open letter to Niagara Health President and CEO Lynn Guerriero also signed by Welland mayor Frank Campion, MPP Burch accused the region’s local health system of not properly contemplating nor communicating reported service changes coming to Welland hospital, as well as Niagara Health’s long-term plans for the site.
“Recently we learned that surgical services at the Welland hospital will be greatly reduced by the end of February due to what is described as ongoing staff shortages,” Burch tweeted. “After a flood of calls from doctors, nurses, and patients in our riding myself and Frank Campion, Welland Mayor, are gravely concerned about what this decision will mean for patient outcomes.”