A petition is calling for Mersey ED to be reopened

A petition to re-open the emergency department at the Mersey Community Hospital is garnering support as a doctor shortage forced its closure earlier this month.

A PETITION is putting pressure on the State Government to re-open the emergency department at the Mersey Community Hospital but the Health Minister says that will be difficult with travel restrictions in place.

The ED was closed at the Latrobe facility earlier this month in line with an outbreak of coronavirus at the North West Regional Hospital and a lack of locums to staff it.

“The Mersey Community Hospital has long been under attack by the Tasmanian Government with services eroded at every opportunity,’ the petition, which garnered almost 400 in less than 24 hours, says.

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“The latest casualty is the MCH’s Emergency Department, shut down by government decision-making during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“A functioning ED is the heart of a hospital.

“We must ensure the government do not use this crisis to further the long-held goal of shutting the Mersey completely.”

Health Minister Sarah Courtney said she was aware of concerns about the closure of the Mersey’s ED and it was her expectation that it would be reopened.

“We are in a pandemic so I cannot give a time line,” she said.

“Locums, which support that facility, have been impacted by the travel restrictions.”