The NDP says the Wynne government has committed to keeping the Wallaceburg hospital and its emergency department open.
Health critic France Gelinas says she raised the issue during question period in the Ontario Legislature Monday.
"I asked both the premier and the minister of health, and both of them committed to keeping the emergency department and the hospital in Wallaceburg open," says Gelinas.
A delegation of Wallaceburg and Walpole Island residents traveled to Queen's Park to lobby against the feared closure of Sydenham District Hospital.
Despite the commitment to keep it open, Gelinas says residents must remain vigilant because hospital underfunding is threatening the future of many facilities in smaller centres.
"That does not serve the people of Wallaceburg, or Petrolia, or even Chatham-Kent very well at all," says Gelinas.
"In real dollar terms, they've been looking at nine years of flatline. This year they get a 1% increase, but that does not even cover the cost of inflation."
Gelinas says the existing funding formula, that is based on population growth, has to be revamped.
Bluewater Health, with hospitals in Sarnia and Petrolia, has seen funding reductions of $7-million over the past three years and the loss of 80 net positions.
