TORONTO - Critics and residents in rural communities are demanding that the Ontario government stop cuts to their health-care services until an expert panel finishes its report.
A small group of demonstrators from the village of Burk's Falls in northern Muskoka say their hospital is slated to close and will force critically ill patients to travel an extra 40 minutes for care.
Another man from Port Colborne, in southern Ontario, says his elderly mother suffered a stroke last year when she couldn't get care at her local hospital, which closed its emergency department in July.
Health Minister Deb Matthews says she can't promise a moratorium on changes to health services in rural communities, but says the government has increased funding to hospitals every year since it took office.
She says no decision has been made by local health authorities about the fate of the Burk's Falls hospital.
Matthews says she's awaiting the advice of the expert panel looking at the "unique challenges" in rural and northern areas, which will deliver its recommendations early next year.
