(please distribute widely - Posted on behalf of the organizers)
Janice Reynods
December 9, 2005
To All Supporters of Dr. Newman's NYGH Clinic:
As you know, I am running the campaign to save Dr. Newman's NYGH breastfeeding clinic. In the past few weeks we have obtained over 2200 signatures on our petition and hundreds of letters and emails of support. All have been sent to Minister Smitherman and various others in the Ministry of Health, as well as to NYGH administrators. We have also sent several supportive articles to prove the benefits and cost savings breastfeeding brings to our health care system. We have obtained media attention from CFRB, CBC radio, CTV, Global, CBC National News, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, The Bayview Post, The Town Crier and The North York Mirror.
Despite all of our attempts, both NYGH and the Ministry of Health have not responded to our concerns or requests to either reinstate the NYGH clinic or establish a new publicly funded clinic in Toronto available to all mothers. At this point - based on the information we have obtained about a new ministry funding formula - it appears that there is no hope of persuading NYGH to reinstate the clinic. The hospital insists that mothers will have to find help for breastfeeding difficulties in the community, but there are no unrestricted, full-time, government funded community clinics in Ontario with the presence of a doctor.
Our only hope appears to be to convince the Ministry of Health to assist us in creating and funding a new clinic. To this end we have decided to stage a Nurse-In at Queen's Park. We believe that this might be the only way to get Mr. Smitherman to pay attention to us. The Nurse-In must be organized quickly because the clinic is closing December 15, 2005 and the house begins its winter break on December 16 and will not return to work until mid-February 2006.
We hope to get as many people as possible to commit to coming down to Queen's Park next Thursday, December 15, 2005, at 11:00 a.m. Babies and children are welcome. If you feel comfortable enough to nurse, we invite you to do so. If not, your presence is all we ask.
Once we have enough people committed to coming to Queen's Park I will inform Minister Smitherman of our plan. I hope to do this on Monday. We will also inform the media and tell Minister Smitherman that they are aware of the Nurse-In. With any luck, the threat of a protest and media attention will convince the Ministry to take pre-emptive action. But we have to be prepared to follow through if they don't.
To ensure that people don't go to Queen's Park unnecessarily, we will post a web page at savetheclinic.maxbiz.com with relevant information. This notice will be posted, as will any updates. Please check this page Wednesday evening to find out if the Nurse-In will be held or if it will be cancelled. We will give Minister Smitherman a deadline of Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. so that if he agrees to negotiate with us we have ample time to inform all participants that the Nurse-In is cancelled.
If you are interested in attending or if you know someone who would be, please send me an email ASAP with your contact information, including your e mail address and phone number. It is important that you let me know if you are coming. I need to know how many people will attend.
Thank you for considering this request. Feel free to forward it to anyone who might want to participate.
Sincerely
Esther Goldstein
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905-482-0124
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