To the Editor,
I am writing to express my growing frustration with the state of our local healthcare system, especially in our emergency rooms (ER). Since the increase in our town’s (Hawkesbury) population, our ER has been flooded almost every night — often with non-urgent issues that should be treated in primary care.
This is not just inconvenient for patients who need urgent attention; it is exhausting our doctors and nurses. These dedicated professionals are stretched to their limits, trying to care for true emergencies while also managing cases that don’t belong in the ER. The situation is unsustainable, and it is unfair to both healthcare workers and patients.
What is most troubling is the lack of action from our government. The problem is clear: there simply are not enough doctors in our community. People without access to a family physician have no choice but to turn to the ER for even minor concerns, further overloading an already strained system.
We need our government to step up — recruit and retain more doctors, invest in primary care clinics, and ensure that emergency rooms can do what they are meant to do: provide timely care for life-threatening and urgent situations. Our community deserves a healthcare system that works for everyone, and our frontline staff deserve the support they need to keep it functioning.
Sincerely,
Anne Howe
Hawkesbury
