DIGBY, N.S.- With signs and musical instruments, a crowd of close to 50 people marched around the Digby General Hospital voicing their concerns about rural healthcare.
The Provincial Day of Action: Save Our Rural Healthcare rallies were held on Oct. 13 in Digby, Yarmouth and Shelburne, along with a few other locations in the province, to draw attention to the lack of healthcare in rural Nova Scotia.
“We know we need this, so we need to be vocal,” said Annamarie Kelly who helped lead the rally in Digby. “We are walking the block because we care for health care.”
The crowd circled the front of the hospital shouting their frustrations and then gathered for two minutes of silence.
“We are sick and tired of being sick and tired,” yelled Joanne Mattison.
Tony Kelly, a member of the Digby Area Health Coalition was at the rally and he was impressed with the turnout.
“If there was 50 people here, that means that these 50 people will tell 50 more people, so the word will spread quickly.”
Kelly believes by hosting rallies like this, it will help send a message to the Nova Scotia Health Authority and the government.
Yuki Inoue came to the rally because she knows the lack of health care is a big issue in Digby County and all the other rural areas in Nova Scotia.
Healthcare effects everyone, at some point in everyone’s life they need a doctor, she says and that’s why she knows this is a passionate topic for a lot of people.
“We have to start somewhere,” she says.
David Boland attended the rally because he feels healthcare in Digby is a big problem.
“It’s so easy for people who don’t live here to make the rules and not care about the consequences,” he says. “It’s all a mess right now.”
