WINNIPEG — Dozens of Winnipeggers met at a town hall put on by the Manitoba NDP Wednesday evening to talk about the closure of the Concordia Hospital emergency room.
Earlier in the month, the province announced that three of Winnipeg’s six emergency rooms were being closed down to reduce hospital wait times.
READ MORE: ‘Doing nothing was not an option’: 3 Winnipeg emergency rooms closing down
The province and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority made the announcement saying the changes are needed as services are too thinly spaced across Winnipeg’s six emergency rooms.
“My concern is that our goal is to provide quality health services, and that we are essentially putting forth a barrier in accessibility, and health care should be accessible to all,” Michele Sykes, a health-care professional said at Wednesday’s town hall.
READ MORE: ‘We’re very concerned’: Health care workers in Manitoba shocked with changes to health care system
“I am shocked that they would think of closing that emergency. I mean, there’s a lot of people involved here,” Cliff Bernhardt, a longtime area resident said at the East Elmwood Community Centre.
“It’s actually saved my life and many people I know, having that emergency here.”
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Most of the changes announced by the province are expected to go into effect in the next six to 24 months.