RALLY TO SAVE BRANSON URGENT CARE CENTRE TO TAKE PLACE TODAY

Tuesday, May 8, 2017FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TORONTO –May 4, 2017 The Branson Community Action Group and the residents of the Bathurst/Finch community are planning a rally outside the Branson Division of North York General Hospital to protest the imminent closure of the Urgent Care Centre.  The rally is to take place: Date:  Wednesday May 10thTime:  5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.Where:  on the sidewalk in front of the Urgent Care CentreOn the north and south sides of Finch Avenue555 Finch Avenue West, Toronto, ON  The Branson Community Action Group (BCAG), a local citizen’s group, believes that the Branson Urgent Care Centre is an extremely important part of this neighbourhood which provides necessary medical services within reasonable walking distances to a community with a high concentration of seniors, disabled, new Canadian residents and families of limited income.The members of the Branson Community Action Group feel that closure of the Urgent Care Centre would cause a great hardship in the community that might lead to avoidable deaths due to a lack of easy access to urgent and emergency medical care.  Collectively the Branson Community Action Group strongly advocates that the Urgent Care Centre should remain open to serve the community to ensure that the community has access to health care.  The Branson Community Action Group feels it is important to postpone the closure of the Urgent Care Centre to at least November of 2017 to allow a reasonable amount of time for public consultation on the matter.  It is the hope of the members of the Branson Community Action Group and the affected community that, with proper public consultation, an alternative solution to providing the medical needs of this area can be found.Contact:Kenneth Schafer, Co-chairperson,   Branson Community Action GroupEmail:  drkschafer@rogers.com                                    Tel:  416 618 4114