Temporary ER closures expected throughout summer

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This article was published 24/06/2022 (1379 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The temporary closure of the Souris emergency room next week is just one of the many that doctors in Manitoba are anticipating this summer, with two physicians warning this model isn’t sustainable.

Prairie Mountain Health announced the closure will happen from 8 a.m. Monday to 8 a.m. Thursday. The regional health authority stated in a news release the closure was due to “physician resource issues.”

Ambulances will still be operating in the community, however, and persons in need will be transported to the nearest open emergency room.

In addition, anyone needing emergency services is asked to call the Souris Health Centre at 204-483-2121 to determine the nearest open emergency room. Health Links for advice is also available at 1-888-315-9257.

This is the latest emergency room suspension to hit the region and Souris-based physician Dr. David Cram said he’s never seen anything like this in his 36-year-long career.

“I’ve been at this a long, long time, and I’ve never been as concerned as I am now about the stability of our hospitals and our emergency rooms to provide the care to our patients,” said the veteran physician and the Manitoba representative on the Canadian Medical Association board of directors.

He and Neepawa physician Dr. Nichelle Desilets spoke at a news conference Friday about their concerns along with Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Candace Bradshaw.

Cram said PMH has been working closely with hospital staff to co-ordinate temporary closures and medical staff relocations to ease the blow to medical services. The Souris emergency room closure, he said, is being caused by one of these planned physician relocations. These closures are going to go on for a while longer, and he warned the situation is not sustainable.

Staff shortages have become worse during the pandemic and ERs are under constant threat due to any disruption to staffing.

“We’re just a nursing shift or a doctor shift away for one or two hospitals [ERs] to close, and it certainly has a domino effect,” Cram said.

Doctors in the communities are always worried whenever there is a disruption, said Desilets, who has been practising in Neepawa since 2015.

A major factor in the shortages is changes to rules for working while sick caused by COVID, she said. They need to be more diligent, meaning they are getting more sick calls.

“As Dr. Cram said, everything’s spread pretty thin,” she said. “And when I hear a veteran like Dr. Cram say that he’s never seen it like this before, as a newer-to-practice physician, that has me concerned.”

They must also deal with involuntary patient transfers, which is when a patient in Winnipeg no longer in need of acute care is transferred to a rural hospital for the rest of their care to free up beds.

It’s rough seeing patients, many of whom are frail and elderly, separated from their families and those families must travel long distances to see them, she said.

In some hospitals, these ongoing issues are affecting other services outside the ER.

Desilets said these include suspending obstetrics, diagnostics, some surgical services and even closing some in-patient beds.

“There are 68 rural and northern hospitals in Manitoba, but only a third of them are expected to be open 24-7 this summer,” she said. “Doctors want to be a part of solving this challenge.”

To address the issue, rural doctors will be working throughout the summer to establish best practices for a long-term recruitment and retention plan, said Desilets, who also serves on the Assiniboine District Medical Society.

In the meantime, Doctors Manitoba launched ruralcare.ca to help Manitobans stay informed about what to do if their local hospital is closed in an emergency. It will also list anticipated ER closures by region.

The organization, which represents more than 4,000 physicians in the province, plans to update the website weekly throughout the summer. It provided statistics that show 40 per cent of rural ERs are expected to stay open 24-7, but 34 per cent will only be able to operate on reduced hours or temporary closures, while 26 per cent have been closed more than a year and won’t reopen this summer.

Calls to Prairie Mountain Health for comment were not answered by press time.

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