IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DONATE TO iPETITIONS TO SIGN THIS PETITION. AFTER SIGNING THE PETITION, YOU MAY COME TO A PROMPT THAT SAYS DONATE. IF YOU DO, JUST CLICK \"NEXT\" AND YOU WILL BE DIRECTED TO A \"PAYPAL\" SIGHT. SIMPLY CLICK ON SOME OTHER SIGHT IN YOU FAVOURITES. YOUR SIGNATURE WAS ALREADY RECORDED ONCE YOU HIT THE \"NEXT BUTTON\" - THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING - THE JIMS The City of Niagara Falls Council has put forward a motion to Niagara Health System in order to save the Maternity Ward at Greater Niagara General Hospital from being part of a "Budget Cut", thereby closing that department of the GNGH permanently. Please support their motion with your signature on this petition. WHEREAS the Niagara Health System (NHS) has repeatedly denied the planned closure of the Niagara Falls Labour and Delivery Unit since 2006; and WHEREAS with the release on July 16, 2008 of their Hospital Improvement Plan (HIP), the NHS plan is to accommodate all births in the Niagara Region in St. Catharines; and WHEREAS with an eleven percent (11%) increase, the majority of growth in new births has taken place in Niagara Falls; and WHEREAS conversely, the largest decrease in birth rates in the Region, at approximately twenty-five percent (25%) continues to be in St. Catharines; and WHEREAS with minimal urban growth opportunities present it is likely that the trend of decreased birth rates in St. Catharines will continue, and WHEREAS Niagara Falls City Council has gone on record on many occasions indicating that the proposed new hospital location in St. Catharines is not convenient, easily accessible nor strategically placed to properly serve residents outside of St. Catharines, and WHEREAS the HIP, as related to Labour and Delivery Units, is not feasible until a Niagara Regional Transportation service is in place and functional; and WHEREAS with Niagara Falls playing host to over 12 million visitors per year it has some very unique health care challenges that call for the preservation of core services at the Greater Niagara General Hospital (GNGH); and Whereas labour and delivery is largely unscheduled and unpredictable in it\'s natural form, and WHEREAS there has been an erosion in confidence in the NHS by elected officials and taxpayers alike; and WHEREAS the NHS have shown an inability, to date, balance its budget; and WHEREAS as a result, the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant (HNHB) Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), which is responsible for planning, integrating and funding health care providers, has asked the NHS for its Hospital Improvement Plan. THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of Niagara Falls insist that the NHS withdraw itâ