West Grey’s mayor says an October court date is expected for a judicial review of South Bruce Grey Health Centre’s service cuts at the Durham Hospital.
Kevin Eccles says while the exact date has not been finalized, they will be attending provincial court in Brampton in mid-October.
A judicial review is a process in which courts make sure decisions by administrative bodies are fair, reasonable and lawful.
The municipality launched the legal process in May, after South Bruce Grey Health Centre announced plans and then followed through with the closure of the Durham Hospital’s inpatient unit over nursing staff shortages.
Durham’s 10 inpatient beds were moved to other sites in Kincardine and Walkerton.
“The board (SBGHC) itself was unlawful in the directions that they took and that is what we are out to prove that they didn’t have a legal right to do what they did of taking the beds,” Eccles claims.
He adds the municipality’s goal is to see the restoration of the 24/7 emergency department, as well as the beds returned to the Durham Hospital.
“It was felt by the municipality, by our council that this seemed to be the only way that we could pull the board and the local decision makers on healthcare to negotiate of how healthcare is going to be delivered in our community. I am disappointed, I thought that we could have had an open dialogue and discussion and it was something that was kind of promised by the SBGHC, but to this point, there has been no open public communication on how their mandate to deliver and have public access healthcare in this community,” says Eccles.
He says there is currently no timeline for how long the legal process will take.
“It depends on how long it takes the judges to come up with a decision and that is a guess work,” says Eccles. “It would be a wonderful Christmas present for the community.”
