New Year's Eve my cousin, Allison (Ali) Holthoff, went to our emergency room here in Cumberland County around 11:00 a.m. with horrible stomach pain. She waited 7 hours in our ER and even as her condition deteriorated, she still did not receive the care she needed. Eventually staff came to realize Ali's condition, but by then it was too late. Sadly, around 11:00 p.m. that evening, Ali passed away.

This shouldn't have happened and we need to make a stand for our health care and demand changes. Our families need this, our doctors need this, our nurses and staff need this! Our main ER should not still be closed. The state our temporary ER and triage is in right now has gone on too long. We need our nurses back. We need a walk-in clinic for those who do not have a family doctor, so our ER is able to see patients needing urgent attention, like Ali did. 

Below are a list of 7 actions that are being recommended by Ali's family, health care workers and many others in our community. PLEASE sign this petition calling on Premier Tim Houston and our government to make these changes NOW - not months or years from now. By then it could be too late for so many others. Sign for our families, hospital medical staff, our children and our seniors - our future. I'm signing this petition today for Ali! 

1.     Place a dedicated healthcare professional in the temporary/makeshift waiting room in the emergency room(ER) at the CRHCC to monitor and provide ongoing medical assessment of persons waiting to see the ER physician. This health care professional would remain in the waiting room and communicate ongoing with triage nurses and the emergency room physician(s). We are requesting this to start immediately and keep this measure in place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until the main emergency room reopens.  

2.     Appoint personnel to urgently complete renovations of the main emergency room at the CRHCC. This means work ongoing, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until the ER is reopened.  

3.     The provincial government communicate with families who have had a loved one die in the ER department while awaiting care, and ensure an investigation is completed. Appoint a dedicated patient advisor from the Ministry of Health to assist the family of the deceased, to answer questions and be a resource and support. 

4.     Immediately reallocate nursing staff to ensure safe staffing levels in the ER at CRHCC. Follow with urgent recruitment of health professionals to CRHCC, offering bonuses and full-time position to attract nurses, in particular.  

5.     Establish a walk-in clinic 8 hours per day, 7 days week adjacent to the ER at CRHCC to meet all the non-urgent medical care needs in the community. 

6.     Publicly post the wait times for both ERs and ambulances. This should be real-time wait times so that people can make educated decisions on accessing health care services in emergency and non-emergency situations.   

7.     Require EHS to develop partnerships with local fire and other first responder agencies to support the safe transfer of patients to hospitals until such time they are able to respond, and until the issue of ambulance availability can be rectified.