The Mayor of Brockton is disappointed in a decision by the Board of Directors at the South Bruce Grey Health Centre to reduce services at its Walkerton Hospital site.
Starting on Monday, December 27th, the emergency department in Walkerton will operate only between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. due to nursing staff shortages.
"We've already met with Lisa Thompson about it, and expressed our strongest objection to the decision by the board. We are willing to fund a third-party review of issues surrounding nursing shortages in the Chesley-Walkerton-Mildmay area," stated Brockton Mayor Chris Peabody.
"With the board terminating emergency service at night in Walkerton, it's really not acceptable. Everybody is pretty upset in Walkerton."
Earlier this week, SBGHC President and CEO Michael Barrett had stated in a release that there were several close calls over the last six months where there were almost unplanned emergency department closures.
SBGHC has been facing shortages in human resources for several years, leading to a reduction in hours of operation at Chesley Hospital's Emergency Department in 2019.