PelhamToday received the following letter to the editor in response to an article published Wednesday regarding the new South Niagara Hospital.
This article indicates that the new hospital that is presently being built will have 464 beds and states that it is being built to replace the existing Greater Niagara Hospital.
This article does not tell the public that Welland County General Hospital will no longer have an ICU so the complexity of cases that the 24/7 Emergency department will no longer be of service for life threatening issues.
The information that it will still have complex care beds is misleading to the public as well. The general public does not know that complex care beds do not include post surgical care or general illnesses that require extra care within a hospital and not at home.
In reality Welland County General Hospital is to become nothing more than place of day surgeries and out patient clinics.
Yes it will still have the out patient Dialysis clinic and the Woolcott Wing which is a Chronic Care Facility.
I understand that a new Extended Care Unit is to be built and as we all know this is a government-run nursing home.
The existing St. Catharines Site of the Niagara Health System is a very modern and an up to date facility but it was built to replace the St. Catharines General and the Hotel Dieu Hospitals. It did not, in my opinion, take into account the massive growth in population that has taken place within the Niagara Peninsula within the last 10 years.
This new hospital being built now will not be able to encompass the needs of the Niagara Falls, Port Colborne, Fort Erie, Welland and/or Pelham areas.
The existing Welland Hospital is an old lady and even though it has been well maintained throughout the years, it is time for her to be replaced also.
I believe that the size that the Niagara Peninsula has grown to warrants three fully active hospitals to take care of the needs to our population.
It is time that we let our Provincial government and our Regional government know that what is being planned for us here in Niagara is not acceptable.
Terri Robins
Fenwick
