Over 100 physicians have signed an open letter in an effort to keep Fredericton’s only competitive pool from closing.
UNB Fredericton’s Sir Aitken Pool is scheduled to close in the fall, but doctors in the area are teaming up to help change the plan.
“We did not want there to be a gap in aquatic services in our city, that aquatic services were equally important to the other types of recreational facilities in the city,” says Dr. Jillian Goodyear.
The names of 103 doctors appear at the bottom of the open letter to Fredericton Mayor Mike O’Brien, saying the health of many will be jeopardized if the pool closes.
Goodyear says the letter has a great representation from the pediatrics department, all the way up to the geriatrics department, that says a lot as well, sports medicine positions, orthopedic surgeon, rheumatologists who deal with people who arthritis and joints, physiatrists who run the Stan Cassidy Rehabilitation Service.
O’Brien was not available for an interview Tuesday, but in a statement he thanked doctors for the letter.
Parent Jennifer Andrews says the fight to keep the pool open is far from over.
“We absolutely need to have aquatic facilities in the city,” says Andrews.
The open letter has been welcomed by family members like Andrews who've been fighting the closure for more than a year.
“I think what it does is send a clear message that this is a community issue and that it really needs to be dealt with at all levels of government.”
For now, the pool is scheduled to shut down in September with the building being torn down in early 2019.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Nick Moore.
