A Wallaceburg councillor believes its time Chatham-Kent figured out how emergency department closures would affect the municipality.
Carmen McGregor has asked staff to investigate cost changes if the Sydenham District Hospital ER were to shut down. She says if Wallaceburg residents need to call EMS to take them to the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, they`ll definitely need more ambulances.
"An ambulance in itself is $1M per ambulance, by the time you cover the equipment and the staffing," says McGregor. "The ambulatory service is already under stress, this would only increase ride time and response time."
Other councillors say any report from the municipality would need in-depth input from the other hospital boards. McGregor says they need to look at internal emergency services.
"Is [the CKHA] going to be able to share with staff the same thing we can get from our EMS? Probably," says McGregor. "I didn't want to muddy it with cuts of service. I just want a synopsis of the different changes in cost."
Council has sent McGregor's motion for a report back for administration to look into.