The Yellow Shirt Brigade has been working for over 23 years towards saving our Healthcare and stopping the closures of COMMUNITY HOSPIALS across not only Ontario, but across Canada.

Prior to my retirement from Port Colborne Hospital in 1995, I attended a Department Head meeting, and it was here that I could really see what was happening. It was about changes, where different hospitals would be designated to specific needs, such as Obstetrics, Pediatrics, Heart and Stroke AND General Surgery. It meant that once this plan was in place, you had to go to the right hospital to be seen, even if you lived across the street from your Community Hospital.

I saw many changes take place that contributed to our present situation. Changes such as; Med- Emerge Doctors brought in for Emergency Room Shifts, The Admitting DEPT took on the responsibilities of four other departments.

As the hospital management changed so did the attitudes and staffing cutbacks.

The groundwork was laid out for us to see in the late 1980s, however we did not see the critical situation they were about to unleash on the Canadian population. This new administration was not publicly stating these changes but were quietly planting the seeds, like a cancer that would grow and take over. We hoped it would never happen.