More than 300 people from the Plaster Rock, N.B., area rallied on Wednesday night calling for Health Minister Mike Murphy to reopen the emergency room at the local hospital.

Ann Drost clutched an urn holding the remains of her mother Ginger DeWitt while standing outside a meeting where Murphy was discussing the future of the Tobique Valley Hospital with local officials in Plaster Rock.

DeWitt died on the night of July 9 while being transported by ambulance from her home near Plaster Rock to a hospital in Grand Falls.

After her death, physician Dr. Barry Wecker said he believed the woman could have been saved had the hospital not been ordered to shut down its emergency services.

The River Valley Hospital Corp. decided to close the 15-bed hospital's emergency department and in-patient services in June because not enough doctors were available.

Wecker is the only remaining emergency physician at the facility, where there previously had been four.

A 24-hour nursing care service remains available on a walk-in basis. Other services, including blood work, X-rays and physiotherapy, also continue to be provided at the facility.

But patients requiring emergency care must now travel about 40 kilometres to hospitals in Grand Falls or Perth-Andover.

That's not acceptable for citizens in the area, said Marcia Harding, who attended the rally.

"I have a son who's allergic to bees — highly allergic to bees," Harding said. "He has 15 minutes and he dies. We have no hospital — 40 minutes to Grand Falls, 40 minutes to Perth. What happens to my son?"

Murphy was in the meeting with the local planning committee for two hours before coming outside to address the crowd.

The minister said there are no plans to reopen the emergency room but that government officials will discuss the residents' concerns.

Some extra beds will also be added to the facility to provide temporary out-patient care, Murphy said.