The Concerned Citizens of Charlotte County have given the provincial government an ultimatum.
Co-chair John Gardner tells us they have given the government a deadline of tonight to respond in a positive manner to the closure of the operating room at the Charlotte County Hospital, or they will “turn up the heat”.
Gardner says, “It’s not just, you know, ‘we’ll discuss that, and and maybe we’ll get something done, and we’ll meet with this shareholder and that shareholder’. No. The answer has to be ‘Don’t worry. We’re taking this off the table, here it is in writing’ and that’s the only way we’re going to accept anything else.”
The operating room is slated to close August 8th.
Gardner says, Premier Brian Gallant will be in St. Stephen for New Brunswick Day, and if nothing is done, the group will ask residents to tell the Premier, as well as other MLA’s and electives, exactly how disappointed they are in person.
“The Premier is going to be in town, if anybody sees him, just remind him, Charlotte County is here. It’s rural New Brunswick, but it’s still New Brunswick. So we just need to keep in his face, and every time he turns around, someone needs to be there to say, ‘This is not right. Save it’.”
On the other side of things, one local MLA says threats aren’t going to do anything if we can’t find a sustainable service, and that includes finding a surgeon.
Charlotte-Campobello MLA John Ames says its counter-productive to work against the government, and more can be accomplished if we work together.
The Citizens group claim they know of doctors who are willing to use the operating room, locally and from elsewhere in the province.
John Ames says if the Citizens group has the names, the province needs to know who they are so services can remain open.
“We don’t have a surgeon to put in that OR, so we can not have an OR open without a surgeon, and we are working to find a surgeon. So if there are surgeons who are ready and willing to go there, we need to know who those people are.”
Ames says boycotting New Brunswick Day celebrations in St. Stephen will only hurt those who have worked so hard to put together the event.
