Worries are growing the emergency room in Wallaceburg could be on the chopping block as the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance looks to tackle a projected $1.8-million budget deficit.
Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors at the Sydenham Campus Conrad Noel says the closure of the Wallaceburg ER would be a disaster.
"I'm going to use the word 'catastrophic,'" says Noel. "Especially because we have an elderly population. The ER, it's really your safeguard. Something happens to me tomorrow, I can go right to the ER."
Noel says his board is looking to put together a proposal for $10-million from the province to keep ER services in Wallaceburg.
The emergency department isn't in danger of closing any time soon, but local authorities are worried services could be cut as the CKHA wrestles with its deficit.
"It can't be just at the expense of Wallaceburg's ER because they've taken everything else away from us," says Noel. "The whole hospital has been gradually sliced. The ER is the only thing we have left really."
The worry in Wallaceburg made it to Queen's Park on Monday with Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Monte McNaughton asking the health minister if the emergency department in Wallaceburg would continue to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The minister didn't directly answer the question, but expressed his willingness to address the concern with McNaughton.
The CKHA tri-board is set to meet on March 31.