• About
  • Join/Donate
  • Contact
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
No Result
View All Result
The Brief
NB MEDIA CO-OP
Share a story
  • New Brunswick
  • Canada
  • World
  • Environment
  • Indigenous
  • Labour
  • Gender
  • Politics
  • Arts & Culture
  • Videos
  • COVID-19
  • New Brunswick
  • Canada
  • World
  • Environment
  • Indigenous
  • Labour
  • Gender
  • Politics
  • Arts & Culture
  • Videos
  • COVID-19
No Result
View All Result
NB MEDIA CO-OP
No Result
View All Result
Home Health

Sackville and Sussex call for heads to roll over plan to cut rural hospitals

by Bruce Wark
March 4, 2020
2 min read
Sackville and Sussex call for heads to roll over plan to cut rural hospitals

Sackville Mayor John Higham addressing rally last month outside Sackville Memorial Hospital. Photo by Bruce Wark.

Sackville Town Council is joining other municipalities in calling on New Brunswick Premier Higgs to fire Ted Flemming, the provincial health minister and to remove Karen McGrath and Gilles Lanteigne, the Chief Executive Officers of the Horizon and Vitalité Health Networks.

During their regular meeting on Feb. 2, Sackville councillors passed a unanimous motion declaring that a majority of Sackville residents had “lost trust and confidence in the present leadership of these provincial health organizations.”

In passing the motion, Sackville joined three mayors in the Sussex area who have already called on Higgs to replace the health minister and the two health network CEOs.

The motion came in response to plans announced on Feb. 11 to cut medical services at the Sackville Memorial Hospital including shutting down the emergency room overnight, eliminating all acute-care beds and closing the operating room where day surgeries are performed.

It called the cuts “the wrong solutions to properly address the underlying problems in the health care system” and referred to what it called “a complete lack of consultation with health care professionals and with the affected communities.”

Although Higgs announced on Feb. 16 that the government would not proceed with the cuts and would consult with people in the six rural communities where hospitals would have been affected, Sackville’s motion calls on “the government of New Brunswick to provide a clear and final renunciation of the currently suspended plans for rural hospitals.”

It also asks for a provincial commitment “to launch a new and rural-informed process to develop practical and comprehensive solutions to the underlying issues in our health care system.”

Mayor Higham told council the motion was drafted during a meeting on Sunday with members of a local committee established to fight hospital cuts.

He promised he would write to Higgs to let him know about the contents of the Sackville motion. (To read the e-mail, the mayor sent to the premier on March 3, click here.)

Higham said the mayors in communities affected by the cuts would confer Tuesday morning to discuss possible next steps.

“We’ll come back with some suggestions,” he said. “There are a couple of events that we’re considering that all communities with these issues should attend and we’ll confirm whether that’s going to happen or not,” he concluded.

Bruce Wark worked in broadcasting and journalism education for more than 35 years. He was at CBC Radio for nearly 20 years as senior editor of network programs such as The World at Six and World Report.  He currently writes for The New Wark Times where this story first appeared.

Tags: Blaine HiggsBruce Warkhospital cutsJohn HighamKaren McGrathSackvilleSussexTed Flemming
Share206TweetSend

Related Posts

MLA Megan Mitton sharply critical of Elections NB investigation into ‘voter suppression tactics’ against students
Education

MLA Megan Mitton sharply critical of Elections NB investigation into ‘voter suppression tactics’ against students

December 3, 2020

Green Party MLA Megan Mitton is criticizing the results of an investigation into the harassment, hostility, threats and intimidation dozens...

Frank McKenna’s $1m gift to Mt. A. stirs excitement and joy, but also concerns about secrecy
New Brunswick

Frank McKenna’s $1m gift to Mt. A. stirs excitement and joy, but also concerns about secrecy

September 30, 2020

Mount Allison University held its first formal gathering in more than six months last Friday to announce the establishment of...

*Opinion*

Is Blaine Higgs applying the “shock doctrine” in New Brunswick?

September 12, 2020

In her book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Canadian author Naomi Klein describes how right-wing governments use...

The left should watch New Brunswick’s election closely
*Opinion*

The left should watch New Brunswick’s election closely

September 10, 2020

Key battles for socialists in Canada are being fought in the province, many of them on the ballot in some...

Load More

Recommended

Lowest-paid workers in Shannex homes in New Brunswick excluded from federal wage top-up

Lowest-paid workers in Shannex homes in New Brunswick excluded from federal wage top-up

6 months ago

On White Ribbon’s Be-a-Man.ca launch

8 years ago
Public interest victory on the Internet

Public interest victory on the Internet

9 months ago

When news is a corporation’s self-serving story: journalist argues for independent media support

7 years ago
NB Media Co-op

© 2019 NB Media Co-op. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Join/Donate
  • Contact
  • Share a Story
  • Calendar
  • Archives

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • Join/Donate
  • Contact
  • Share a Story
  • COVID-19
  • Videos
  • New Brunswick
  • Canada
  • World
  • Arts & Culture
  • Environment
  • Indigenous
  • Labour
  • Politics
  • Rural

© 2019 NB Media Co-op. All rights reserved.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In