Keep urgent care in smaller communities, Niagara residents tell Ontario party leaders [Video]

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For Jude Campbell, a Fort Erie, Ont., resident with heart trouble, “it’s just scary,” knowing the closest emergency room is at least a 30-minute drive away.

There is no hospital in Fort Erie, only an urgent care centre with limited hours. Niagara Health plans to close it by 2028. 

In 2023, hospital network Niagara Health reduced the operating hours at its urgent care centres (UCCs) in Fort Erie and nearby Port Colborne, going from all-day operation, to 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., with patient intake ending at 8 p.m.

Campbell, 78, says the decision effectively left residents without timely access to care at night, because whereas they could once go to the UCC, now ERs elsewhere in Niagara are the only options.

The changes were “to help maintain capacity” at ERs in Welland, St. Catharines and …