(February 17, 2023, St. John’s) – David Brazil, PC Official Opposition Leader and MHA for Conception Bay East-Bell Island, says the residents who rely on the William H Newhook Community Health Centre are fed up with 16-months of continued closures and uncertainty about the future of healthcare delivery in the Whitbourne area.

“I look forward to meeting with residents on Sunday as they express their frustration with the Liberal Government’s continued failure to recruit and retain healthcare professionals to keep the emergency room at the local health centre open,” said Brazil.

“My Caucus colleagues and I will travel to the area on Sunday to hear first hand what happens when the Liberal Government fails to bring reliable access to healthcare to rural areas of Newfoundland and Labrador. The reality is an emergency does not wait until an emergency room is open. Every second counts, and lengthy drives to other emergency rooms an hour away is one more layer of anxiety for residents in the region.”

Brazil says he was encouraged to hear the local Liberal MHA finally speak publicly about the repeated closures of the emergency department and he hopes she will start to apply pressure to her Liberal colleagues.

“There has been a pattern of staff shortages causing the local emergency room to be closed periodically for the last 16 months or more. It’s meant stress for residents and lengthy drives to Carbonear, Placentia, or St. John’s – adding to the existing pressure on those facilities on top of the difficulties for residents having to make the trip,” said Brazil.

“It’s time for the Liberal Government to recognize these closures are not acceptable to the people who rely on the health centre in an emergency. I look forward to meeting with residents and continuing to call for greater access to healthcare in Whitbourne and throughout rural regions of Newfoundland and Labrador.”

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Contacts:

David Maher

Director of Strategic Communications

(cell) 709-725-0984

DavidMaher@gov.nl.ca