Dear Editor:
Dear neighbours: I don’t think it is wise to tear down our old Groves hospital. Guelph hospital is in crisis. Ambulances are not able to off load patients anywhere quickly. Seniors need places to go for care.
We should rethink the value of having a second hospital in Fergus to be adapted perhaps to senior care, but to tear down a facility right now, even if it is old, doesn’t make much sense. We are in a crisis before monkey pox. Let’s use wisdom.
Administration of hospitals need to rethink the staffing and include more volunteer staff and nursing students, PSWs, etc. and training for staff so that they can be flexible.
We should attach nursing education to the hospitals as it used to be in Guelph with St. Joseph’s hospital and have part of training of nurses as working in the hospitals to help. Candy stripers can help too – volunteers.
You can’t just push someone into a role, you need to train them properly for their safety and mental health too and have experienced staff hired to do this training.
Staff need to have input into the handling of the hospital and be listened to.
We need to rethink pushing unvaxxed staff out of the hospitals who have already had COVID-19 in all probability, and give them jobs to help our crisis. We can all work together.
Carolann Krusky,
Fergus