Media Advisory: Hundreds to Converge in Trenton for Regional Rally to Protest Hospital Cuts

TRENTON, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Nov. 12, 2015) - The health planning body for Southeastern Ontario is planning a major restructuring of all the hospitals from Perth & Smiths Falls to Brockville to Trenton and every town in between. They plan to cut services from local communities and centralize them into fewer towns. Patients will have to drive further for care and services across the region will be reduced. This Friday, hundreds will gather to send a strong message to the region's senior MPP Lou Rinaldi, asking him to bring it back to his caucus in the Liberal government that Ontarians insist that the devastating hospital cuts stop.

Visual: Hundreds of red balloons will be signed with messages directed at Lou Rinaldi, the region's senior MPP and the Liberal government. There will be hundreds in attendance from across the region with banners, signs and noisemakers. There will be performances by the Cold Creek Cloggers, local musician Frank Blanchet, and a flash mob dance. Representatives from communities in the region will participate in a parade of cuts, with all the hospital cuts in Trenton and the surrounding region displayed visually in a procession.

Where: Centennial Park (Amphitheatre), Trenton.

When: Friday November 13, at 12 p.m. (noon).

What: local patients, seniors, veterans, health advocates and hospital workers will participate in a rally to take back our hospitals. The event is sponsored by Our TMH (Trenton Memorial Hospital) and the Ontario Health Coalition.

Speakers include: Betty Clost, Our TMH, Mike Cowan, Our TMH, Jim Harrison, Mayor, Quinte West, Michael Hurley, president OCHU/CUPE, Tom Kupecz, retired Lieutenant-Colonel, Vicki McKenna, vice-president, Ontario Nurses' Association, Natalie Mehra, executive director, Ontario Health Coalition, Todd Smith, MPP Prince Edward-Hastings, Corey Vermey, Director of Health Care, Unifor, Evelyn Wilson, patient.