Acute medical care
The slated closure of Hillside Hospital is just Shutting Hillside’s doors means that more people will be a greater distance from acute medical care. So far the government is refusing to re-think its decision, but it is still not too late to put up a good fight.
Closing this hospital violates common sense at a number of levels. The oldest hospital in the city, The Hillside has been serving the need of our citizens for over a century.
The last decade has already seen too many other venerable medical institutions close their doors – the demise of Mercy Clinic, last year’s closure of Mount Mary, and the loss of the specialized services at Women’s Hospital.
Let’s not allow the Hillside to be another victim of drive-by budget cuts. Provincial authorities claim that the medical system is in desperate need of a structural overhaul for greater efficiency.
They point to the duplication of services at Hillside and Newton Hospital. They point to changes in the delivery of medical care in the new millennium, which requires more outpatient surgical units and fewer hospital beds.
They point to the age of the Hillside facility, seemingly forgetting about the extensive renovations within the last ten years to modernize the Emergency Service Unit, the state-of-the- art Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic, the Birthing Unit, and the Rehabilitation Centre. Even if streamlining is necessary, why close the Hillside, in the heart of our city? It is the closest medical care for almost a third of the population of the metropolitan area.
Shutting the Hillside’s doors means that more people will be a greater distance from acute medical care. More ambulances will travel farther distances. As we all know, minutes make a difference when there’s a medical emergency.
Provincial penny pinchers are also ignoring the impressive record of excellence from Hillside. Not once but twice it has been awarded a Commonwealth Prize for Excellence for its community outreach programs.
Programs that target those often in need of medical and social services, namely senior citizens, new Canadians, and the homeless. The decision is a short-sighted attempt at placating the angry taxpayers who voted in the current government.
Promises to cut provincial spending should not be honoured with thoughtless slash-and-burn policies. The city continues to grow, and tired old neighborhoods Your Future Looks Bright With DRAKE MEDOX COLLEGE
