The outpatient department at the Catherine Booth Hospital will be closing due to a budget shortfall, patients learned on Friday.
The hospital has a $700,000 shortage to budget cuts and rising costs.
Patients were surprised to learn of the closing. Debra Stone was at the hospital for her third joint replacement surgery. She was expecting to be discharged Wednesday and continue her physiotherapy at the outpatient clinic.
"I need more physio--I'm not at a stage where I can be going without so my concern is where am I going to go?" she asked. "If I stay [in hospital] longer, people in the hospital stay longer people awaiting surgery don't get in-- its a chain reaction."
Stone has been refused at her local CLSC and at the Lakeshore General to continue her physio therapy.
The hosptial's director general said it was not an easy decision to close the department.
"For the patients who love us here and we love them, its heart wrenching," said Edith Verstege.
Physiotherapists are working on finding alternate arrangements for the 70 or so patients left without services, but they say it is difficult on such short notice.
