Ontario’s Minister of Health says residents of Red Lake were never in danger despite a 24 hour closure of the hospital emergency room last weekend.
Christine Elliott says Ontario Health made sure there was health care coverage for anyone needing it.
“The Provincial Emergency Operations Centre and the Ministry of Health coordinated patients to be redirected to Dryden and air support was available for EMS transfers as required. As a result no one needed to be airlifted and two people were transferred by ambulance.”
NDP leader Andrea Horwath says the closure of the Red Lake ER is not an isolated event because there is a shortage of physicians in small hospitals across the north.
(With files from Tim Davidson)
