Town of Fort Erie Presents Innovative Vision for Douglas Memorial Hospital to Niagara Health Board

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 27, 2025—On Tuesday, Mayor Wayne Redekop, accompanied by Councillors Joan Christensen, George McDermott and Tom Lewis, CAO Chris McQueen and Health Care Services Co-Ordinator Alice Preston attended a meeting of the Niagara Health Board of Trustees to urge reinstatement of hours of operation at the Fort Erie Urgent Care Centre, request that it to work with and support the Fort Erie and Niagara Region physician recruitment efforts and outline Fort Erie’s reimagining of how the Douglas Memorial site can be better utilized to serve the residents of Niagara.

The use of 130 to 145 acute care beds in Niagara Health’s 3 main hospitals for non-acute patients has a crippling effect on its ability to manage its Emergency Departments.   The result is unnecessarily long wait times in the EDs because patients needing admission cannot be placed in an acute care bed, patients have to be kept in unintended spaces and ambulances cannot off-load patients.  When ambulances are left sitting for hours at EDs, paramedics cannot engage in their critically important service to the public because they and their ambulances are out of service while they wait to release their patients to the hospital.  This misuse of acute care beds means that up to $50 million annually is inappropriately allocated by Niagara Health and Regional taxpayers pay between $5-8 million annually while ambulances sit idle at hospitals.

By establishing alternative level of care beds at Douglas Memorial and fully utilizing its Urgent Care services, NH can significantly relieve pressure on its acute and emergency operations, reduce ED wait times and EMS off-load delays, improve patient care and better utilize the millions of dollars allocated for those services.  Fort Erie’s proposal also calls for improved diagnostics, a concentration of health care services and the potential for education and training programs for a range of desperately needed health care providers.

“We believe there’s a real opportunity for Niagara Health, the Province, and local communities to work together on practical, cost-effective solutions that improve patient care across the Region. By maximizing Urgent Care services in Fort Erie and reimagining the use of Douglas Memorial, we can help relieve pressure on emergency departments, support our paramedics, and better serve residents throughout Niagara,” said Mayor Wayne Redekop.

Mayor Redekop has requested a meeting with the Minister of Health to review the Town’s Douglas Memorial proposal and is awaiting a response.

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Kevin Beauchamp
Manager of Communications and Marketing
905-871-1600 ext.2217

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