An MLA from the Quad Counties says he’s worried about a local operating room.
Allan MacMaster, the MLA for Inverness, says he sat down with Premier Stephen McNeil and two local doctors to discuss the operating room at Inverness Consolidated Memorial Hospital recently.
He says McNeil made a commitment to keep the operating room open during the meeting.
MacMaster tells The Hawk it’s a successful facility.
“Inverness has always had an operating room, and it has a great record of success,” he says. “We have something down there that is working very well, and I would hate for us to lose it- there is no reason for us to lose it.”
MacMaster says provincial officials need to hire more surgeons if they want to keep it open.
He says Dr. Jeannie MacGillivray was one of those surgeons they needed, but she was forced to resign in Antigonish, which means she can’t work in Inverness.
Betty Ann MacQuarrie, the warden of Inverness Co., tells The Hawk she agrees with MacMaster- the operating room can’t stay open without surgeons.
“I think the missing link is surgeons- we need more surgeons in order to keep that (operating room) open,” she said. “We will fight right along with Allan to ensure that (the) district health authority and the Minister of Health are aware that we need to keep our surgery open in Inverness.”
MacQuarrie says surgeons are coming from the regional hospital in Sydney at the moment.
She says councillors worry about all hospitals used by residents of Inverness Co.
