The mayor of Bonavista remains hopeful as work continues to secure medical professionals for the area hospital.
John Norman says the recent decision to convert the Whtibourne clinic to an Urgent Care Centre without emergency services is not a concern to his community as the two circumstances are vastly different.
He says the Whitbourne clinic serves an area of about 2,000 residents whereas Bonavista serves approximately 8,000.
“The numbers don’t lie,” says Norman and both the province and Eastern Health are “well aware” that Bonavista is one of the busiest ERs in the province. There’s no interest in dismantling the service Bonavista Hospital offers, says Norman.
In the meantime, the town has come under fire from some regarding possible incentives being offered by the town to help with the recruitment of health professionals. Norman admits, that has always been a concern, but the town is not at the place yet where municipal incentives could be offered.
He says there are no incentives on paper and no requests have been made.