Closing Western Hospital's ER overnight is 'taking chances,' doctor warns

The head of Western Hospital's emergency department says closing the ER at night amounts to walking a tightrope without a safety net.

The Alberton, P.E.I., hospital's overnight collaborative emergency centre has been closed for almost a year due to chronic staffing shortages, and the daytime ER often shuts down services due to a lack of workers as well.

Dr. Robert Campanaro says the hospital's emergency room sees about 30 patients a day on average, and though the vast majority of visits happen during the day, closing the ER at night could put lives at risk.

"Medicine is not something that happens 9 [a.m.] to 5 [p.m.] — people get sick 24 hours a day," he said in an interview with CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.

"Generally speaking, when people feel sick enough to have to come to a hospital at two in the morning, it's usually for something significant. Most people are not coming because of a stubbed toe or a hangnail. They're coming because they may have chest pain or shortness of breath or abdominal pain."

Campanaro said he understands staff may be more useful elsewhere across the system — but says they're still "taking chances" by not offering overnight services.

"If you are a tightrope walker with a 99 per cent chance of crossing that wire, you don't need a safety net. But every once in a while you're going to fall and you need a safety net. I think inevitably, at some point people will fall and there won't be the safety net there to catch them."