Save Our Sydenham (SOS) Committee Calls for Cross-Province Public<br>Consultations, Moratorium, on Hospital Cuts and Closures; Joins a Network of<br>Groups Across Ontario Fighting the Cuts

TORONTO, Nov. 3 /CNW/ - The Ontario Health Coalition, the Save Our Sydenham (SOS) Committee; and Former Mayor of Wallaceburg, Jeff Wesley criticized the McGuinty government's plans for its Rural and Northern Health Panel for lack of public consultations. Noting that many devastating cuts and closures are already underway, the group called for a moratorium pending proper public consultations and a review of the current cuts.

The government announced the Panel in response to a major protest against hospital cuts and closures, involving thousands of residents from small and rural communities in front of the Ontario Legislature last April. However, when it finally released the Terms of Reference for the Health Minister's Panel on Rural and Northern Care, there is not a single mention of hospitals. In addition, there are no plans for public consultations until after the panel completes its work this winter; too late for many of the small and rural hospital cuts and closures now underway.

    
    The group called for the following:
    -   The Terms of Reference must explicitly include a review of the impact
        of small and rural hospital cuts and closures on the affected
        communities.
    -   A moratorium on cuts and closures, pending the completion of the
        Panel's work, in keeping with the recommendation for a moratorium
        made by the Ontario Medical Association.
    -   Cross-province public consultations, on the record, in the affected
        communities, with the opportunity for residents to bring their
        experiences, concerns and submissions forward.
    

"If the Rural and Northern Health Panel is going to do what is right for the citizens of Ontario and for those served by SDH they must hold public consultations in the affected communities, like Wallaceburg, before they arrive at recommendations and decisions," said former Mayor of Wallaceburg Jeff Wesley. "To do otherwise destroys the credibility of not only the panel but, the "behind closed doors" recommendations they come forward with."

"This Panel is not supposed to be another game of "smoke and mirrors," added Natalie Mehra, director of the Ontario Health Coalition. "It was supposed to respond to the very serious concerns about loss of vital hospital services raised by thousands of residents - not only here but all across the province."

Shirley Roebuck of the SOS Committee noted, "Ontarians deserve to have their voices heard, and have input into the government's decisions to change our health care system. If the government wants to improve services to Ontario, then why not listen to the people, and to what they want and need?"

"The Terms of Reference and process set out by the McGuinty government for its Panel on Rural and Northern Health falls far short of what is needed. They are putting the cart before the horse," concluded Natalie Mehra. "By the time they get to developing policy about what is needed in our community, the cuts will have already happened. There should be a moratorium on cuts, proper policy developed and debated, and only then could major hospital restructuring be considered."

For further information: Jeff Wesley: [phone] or [phone]; Shirley Roebuck: [phone]; Natalie Mehra: [phone] or [phone]