Task force optimistic about hospital services; Mount Allison union calls on province to “preserve and enhance” hospital
The leaders of a community task force on rural health care say they’re optimistic services at the Sackville Memorial Hospital will be restored.
The Mount Allison Faculty Association is also throwing its support behind the movement to restore hospital services.
Former Sackville mayor John Higham is one of the co-chairs of the Memramcook-Tantramar Rural Health Action Group.
In a statement, Higham said the group felt encouraged by year-end meetings with Horizon Health Network.
Officials from the regional health authority “have given us hope that the cutbacks against which we protested last year will indeed be temporary,” Higham said in the statement.
The emergency department at Sackville Memorial Hospital is currently open between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. seven days a week following service reductions.
But Horizon officials say they’re committed to restoring 24/7 emergency care, according to the statement from the Rural Health Action Group.
Officials from the health authority have also indicated they intend to return to a full complement of acute-care beds, along with “further investments in additional services,” according to the statement.
It said the health authority has also agreed to work with the local action group on marketing efforts meant to retain and recruit doctors, nurses and other staff in the region.
In December, Horizon announced the acute care unit at Sackville Memorial would close, and those beds would be used for people awaiting long-term care. … Continue