City Council expresses concern about hospital situation

Sault Ste. Marie City Council voted tonight to ask Sault MPP David Orazietti to convene a joint meeting of City councillors with the board of Sault Area Hospital and representation from the Northeastern Local Health Integration Network.

The motion passed by councillors expresses concern that the hospital "is at a critical stage as it pertains to staffing, services, programs and financing."

"Operations at the present facility must necessarily be formulated to effect a smooth transition to the new hospital," said the motion, spearheaded by Ward 1 Councillor Steve Butland and Ward 3 Councillor Bryan Hayes.

Pointing out that both the City of Sault Ste. Marie and local private citizens have made major contributions to build the new hospital, the motion pointed out that the public is generally unaware of the hospital's problems and needs to be aware of the potential consequences.

In introducing the motion, Butland referred to the resignation, confirmed today, of local oncologist and tireless SAH fundraiser Dr. David Walde, who said he's lost all confidence in the hospital's administration.

Mayor John Rowswell said he wasn't impressed by the reaction of Finance Minister Dwight Duncan to a presentation last week in which the mayor claimed Northern Ontario residents are dying needlessly as a consequence of inadequate health care. The photo accompanying this article shows Rowswell embracing Walde in April 2005, after learning that the Ontario Government had approved the functional plan for the new hospital, including Northern Ontario's only freestanding radiation bunker.