Keep up letter-writing campaign: Campbell

Kenora-Rainy River MPP Sarah Campbell is urging constituents in the Rainy River area to keep up their efforts to save the community’s emergency room—even in the face of recent assurances from Health minister Deb Matthews that the facility will not close.
Since she raised the issue at Queen’s Park two weeks ago, Campbell said she’s received dozens of letters of support urging Matthews to take immediate action to preserve health care in the community.

While that has led to the minister promising that the loss of the community’s only doctor will not close the emergency room in the short-term, Campbell said the community needs to be vigilant to push for long-term solutions.
“We don’t want to be in a position where every six months we’re worrying about the future,” she remarked.
“Dr. Singleton and I have been very clear that the funding model currently in place is not working and it is only when those changes are made that we can rest easy knowing we have a long-term plan that will ensure sustainability,” she added.
Campbell said the community’s letter-writing campaign has helped bring action, and she urges residents to keep those letters coming to ensure a permanent solution is put in place.
“Letters are an important tool in getting the ministry to act,” she reasoned.
“In a little over two weeks, I have received dozens of letters from concerned constituents and every single letter is going directly to the minister to let her know that the Rainy River Valley will not tolerate inaction.”
Campbell said now that the community has short-term assurances, they need to focus on the long-term and fixing the problems she and Dr. Singleton have cited.
“We know the model is broken,” she stressed. “I’ve said it, Dr. Singleton said it. Communities and health-care providers are saying it.
“We need to fix the system and the only way we’re going to do that is by keeping the pressure up with letters from the public, petitions, and other actions that say northern communities want a model that works for them,” Campbell said.