MR. SPEAKER:
Further petitions?
The hon. the Leader of the
Opposition.
MS JONES:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise today to present a petition
on behalf of the people in the District of The Isles of
Notre Dame.
WHEREAS
there were fifteen acute care beds in the Notre Dame Bay
Memorial Hospital Health Centre; and
WHEREAS
five of the acute care beds closed last summer and did
not reopen in the fall; and
WHEREAS
the availability of acute care beds is critical to the
people of Twillingate and New World Island; and
WHEREAS
the shortage of acute care beds is resulting in people
being denied admittance to the Notre Dame Bay Memorial
Hospital Health Centre; and
WHEREAS
the people of Twillingate, New World Island do not want
to see their health care services cut;
WHEREUPON
the undersigned, your petitioners, humbly pray and call
upon the House of Assembly to urge government to
reinstate the five acute care beds in the Notre Dame Bay
Memorial Hospital Health Centre.
Mr. Speaker, the situation here in
this particular area is really unfortunate. These people
were used to having a number of beds in the acute care
centre at Notre Dame Bay Memorial Health Centre in
Twillingate. There was a need in that facility obviously
for restorative care beds. There was a request that went
into government to have those restorative care beds
added to the Twillingate hospital.
Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, what
government did is back last summer they closed down five
of the acute care beds in the region. They closed them
for the summer with a commitment to reopen them in the
fall, but they did not reopen them in the fall. In fact,
what they did is they reallocated them from acute care
beds to restorative care beds in the same facility.
Then what happened is the minister
and the member for the area, the MHA, went out there,
Mr. Speaker, and had a press conference and said that we
are going to add five restorative care beds to the Notre
Dame Bay Memorial Health Centre. In fact, Mr. Speaker,
what they were doing is they were taking out five acute
care beds, beds that people were using every day for
emergencies, beds that people were using every day for
normal procedures. They took those beds out of the
facility and reclassified them as restorative care beds.
That was supposed to be a good
announcement for the people in that area. Well, it was
not a good announcement. That is why thousands of people
have signed these petitions, petitions that are still
coming into my office, Mr. Speaker, from people out
there who are signing these petitions because they are
not happy. They are not happy with the fact that their
member presided over this and did not consult with them,
but, in fact, took beds out of their hospital without
their knowledge. They are not happy and they are asking
the government to reinstate them.
