Last week, the Fort Erie Town Council made the significant determination to put a pause on its $3 million investment in support of the construction of the cutting-edge South Niagara Hospital in Niagara Falls.
The decision of the Council comes at a time when concerns abound in the community regarding future access to urgent care. Mayor of Fort Erie Wayne Redekop provided background and context to the Council’s deliberations and ultimate conclusions.
“The decision by the Town of Fort Erie Council in 2013 to contribute $3 million was premised on recommendations in a report by Kevin Smith (September 2012), who had been appointed by the provincial government to supervise the operation of the Niagara Health System,” Redekop told The Niagara Independent.
The Fort Erie Mayor sought to emphasize that the issue is not a reluctance on the part of Council to see a new hospital built in South Niagara. Rather, the community is seeking to future-proof the provision of readily accessible emergency care services for its residents.
“While the Town supported, and continues to support, the construction of a new full-service hospital in south Niagara, its financial commitment was premised on the expectation that an urgent care centre would be located in Fort Erie after the new hospital opened,” he explained.
“The gradual erosion of urgent care centre hours in Fort Erie reflect Niagara Health’s intention to continue on the path of closing out its operations in Fort Erie once the new hospital opens.”
Niagara Health has been planning to gradually wind down operations at the Fort Erie Douglas Memorial Hospital when the new South Niagara Falls Hospital opens in 2028, citing low levels of usage, as well as a subsequent reluctance to staff the location with doctors of which there is an intense regionwide shortage.
However, there is significant concern within the community regarding the continued availability of emergency care for residents.
“There has been a fundamental change in Niagara Health’s path for hospital services in Niagara going forward, which calls for the elimination of urgent care services in Fort Erie. That was not contemplated when the Council made its commitment in 2013,” Redekop shared.
“Temporary suspension of the financial commitment by the current Fort Erie Council while discussions continue with Niagara Health about the future of its Douglas Memorial site helps to focus everyone’s attention on what is required to better serve the health and hospital needs of the residents of all of Niagara.”
Ultimately, the Fort Erie Council hopes to negotiate with Niagara Health in order to develop the framework of a solution that would allow everyone’s concerns to be addressed.
“Fort Erie has presented Niagara Health with a proposal for utilizing Douglas Memorial to improve the efficiency of Niagara Health’s operations by freeing up acute care beds for use by acute care patients, thereby reducing wait times in the Emergency Departments and hallway medicine, reducing EMS off-load delays, improving patient care and saving or better allocating funds provided by the provincial government,” Redekop said while outlining what Council sees as a potential formula for moving forward.
Comprehensive negotiations, with these objectives at the top of mind, are expected to take place in the coming weeks and months.
