Local NDP MPPs urging province to investigate management at Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre
Posted Aug 5, 2022 09:00:00 PM.
A pair of local New Democratic Party (NDP) members of provincial parliament (MPPs) have written a letter to the province's health minister, calling for an immediate investigation into the management at the Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre.
The request comes after four healthcare workers at the centre were recently laid off without cause, despite long tenures and good performance reviews.
The letter was sent to Health Minister Sylvia Jones by Ottawa-West Nepean MPP Chandra Pasma and Ottawa-Centre MPP Joel Harden.
According to Pasma, in the past three years, as many as a third of the staff at the Pinecrest-Queensway Community Health Centre have either been terminated or left voluntarily, which is impacting patients ability to access care.
“We're hearing from patients that they're not able to get healthcare or to book appointments right now,” Pasma told The Sam Laprade Show with guest host Derick Fage on Friday, August 5. “At a moment when our healthcare system is already on its knees and other parts of the system are really experiencing unbearable pressure, the last thing we need is for patients not to get care from their regular healthcare provider.”
Pasma adds the request for the province to investigate was made after she and Harden were unable to secure a meeting with the centre's chief executive officer.
“Because we haven't able to get any answers from the board or from management, it's time that a larger body step in and investigate what's happening here and make sure that decisions are being made in the best interest of patients and that the funding dollars from Ontario are ensuring the best care,” she explained.
The Ottawa-West Nepean MPP says community health centres provide care to some of the most vulnerable population and those individuals should be at the front of the line for healthcare, instead of being let down by the current system.
Listen to the full interview with Chandra Pasma below:
