Doctors say closure is not justified
Doctors at the Misericordia Health Centre are urging the Province of Manitoba to reverse it’s decision to close the urgent care centre at their facility.
“We, the Misericordia Urgent Care physicians, are extremely concerned about the closure of the Misericordia Urgent Care Centre and the huge impact this will have on the community we serve. As physicians we feel we need to advocate for this vulnerable population who have complex chronic health, social and mental health needs.” says the letter sent to Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen.
The letter goes on to say “We care for approximately 39000 patients per annum. Of that number, approximately 11000 visits are from people who live in the downtown and the Point Douglas neighbourhoods. These communities are comprised of many of our city’s impoverished, marginalized, and disenfranchised; people who have little voice in the political decision making process and, therefore, whose needs can be and frequently are overlooked.”
In the plea to government the doctors point out that many people in the area are poor and do not have access to vehicles or the money to take a taxi to the proposed facilities at Seven Oaks or Victoria.
“Closing Misericordia Urgent Care, taking away access to non-emergent 24-hour care in the core of the city, will only serve to cost the system more and increase the wait times at the already struggling ERs. The conclusion cannot be denied that the closure of Misericordia will be a huge loss for some of the most needy of Winnipeg’s population and as a physician team we are concerned about the equitable access to health care for our vulnerable patients.”
In April the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and the Health Minister announced that they would be closing Concordia Hospital’s Emergency Room, converting Seven Oaks and Victoria’s ERs into Urgent Care Centres and closing the Urgent Care Centre at Misericordia.
The letter goes on to question the savings the government says it will make by making the changes to facilities.
“Given the above facts it is difficult to understand the rationale for the decision to close Misericordia Urgent Care. In our opinion, there is certainly no patient care justification for this closure. Even from a cost savings perspective the closure of Misericordia Urgent Care is indefensible.”
-News4 Staff-
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