Community Hospital meeting to air concerns about care
Last Updated: Monday, November 23, 2009 | 8:21 PM AT
CBC News
A citizen's group in O'Leary, P.E.I., is holding a public meeting next week to discuss concerns residents have about acute care services at Community Hospital.
The facility's emergency room was shut down last year and replaced with an urgent care centre, which according to the Department of Health website is meant to provide "assessment, diagnostic and treatment services for medical problems that require prompt attention but are not life threatening."
The hospital has 13 acute care beds and serves several surrounding communities in Prince County in the northwest part of the Island.
Thelma Sweet, a member of the Concerned Citizens Committee for the hospital, said some doctors were booking appointments for times when they were on call for the centre.
She said that results in longer wait times for some patients.
"This is what the Concerned Citizens Committee was formed for — to try to restore acute care services to what we feel is acute care."
Health Minister Doug Currie has been invited to attend next week's meeting.
Deputy Minister Keith Dewar said the department has been looking to address some of the group's concerns, including how decisions are made about admitting patients into the hospital.
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