The interim leader of the New Brunswick NDP joins a growing group of people speaking out against recent health care changes.
On Tuesday, health officials announced emergency rooms in Sussex, Sackville, Perth-Andover, Sainte-Anne-de-Kent, Caraquet and Grand Falls will close overnight beginning March 11th.
More nurse practitioners will be added to the hospitals’ teams to help provide more care during the day.
Mackenzie Thomason says he’s concerned that the cuts to hours will only increase congestion at other hospitals.
“My main concern is that it’s going to cause longer wait times at hospitals with ERs that are still open overnight. It’s also going to create a much longer travel time, and in an emergency, you need as short of a commute as possible,” he said.
“I know that they had mentioned in their throne speech that they were going to do some health care reforms, however, this kind of health care reform is not good for anybody,” he said.
Thomason says not enough consultation was done prior to the decision to close six ERs overnight.
“This just kind of came out of the blue from what I could see,” he said.
“I don’t think any health care workers or anybody in these affected centres were consulted, and most importantly, I don’t think the residents living in and around these centres were consulted either.”
Thomason says the changes will significantly impact rural communities.
“Myself, I’m from a very rural community. If we want to get to a hospital, we have to go to Oromocto, and overnight we have to come into Fredericton. When you talk to people in communities around New Brunswick, they want their health care to be as local as possible, they want their health care to be accessible,” he said.
Thomason hopes the Higgs government will choose to reverse the changes, and instead look at keeping all ERs in New Brunswick open 24/7.
