The mayor of Grand Falls-Windsor describes the emergency department at the Regional Health Centre as a “disaster,” and he’s calling on the provincial government to address the matter immediately.

Government established a family care team about a year ago but Mayor Barry Manuel says there is no doctor on staff. Workers are doing their best to juggle things at that facility, he says, but he’s hearing horror stories coming from the ER at the hospital. He says staff are doing their best, but the wait times are horrendous.

Mayor Manuel is calling on the newly-minted minister of health, John Hogan, to physically visit the facility himself.

“Our health care professionals are in a difficult and stressful situation. Imagine having to be the nurse or other health professional coming out of emerg at 10:00 or 11:00 at night and tell a group of people who have been waiting for six or seven hours that they’re not going to be seen. We all deserve better.”