Montague hospital's ER will be closed every Saturday starting Jan. 11, says Health P.E.I.
CBC
The emergency department at Kings County Memorial Hospital in Three Rivers will "temporarily" stop operating on Saturdays in the new year, says Health P.E.I.
In a news release, the agency said the ER at the eastern P.E.I. hospital will be open Monday to Friday only starting Jan. 11, citing staffing challenges.
"The KCMH Emergency Department… is experiencing a shortage of staff at a time when demand for emergency services is increasing," reads the news release.
"Pausing these services will allow Health P.E.I. to stabilize the situation and continue to develop a long-term plan to ensure sustainable emergency care."
Health P.E.I. said that long-term plan includes having three physicians working Monday through Friday in the emergency room at the Montague facility.
It said efforts to increase access points to care outside the ER are also part of the stabilization work, including expanding access to services like the new walk-in clinic at the Down East Mall in Montague.
"I want people in Kings County to know this is not a decision we made lightly," Health P.E.I. CEO Melanie Fraser was quoted as saying in the news release.
"Our efforts to maintain Saturday morning services by increasing incentives for locum physicians was partially successful, but the ongoing uncertainty of opening and closing the emergency department week-to-week has been extremely stressful on staff.
"We need to take this action to avoid over-burdening some of our most important, skilled, and valuable workers."
Health P.E.I. said in October that it is looking to hire five full-time emergency room doctors for KCMH.
At the time, Fraser cited incentives including higher pay rates and bonuses for locums covering rural areas that will increase each time they work at a hospital outside the Island's urban centres.
In the long term, the five additional doctors that will eventually be hired will boost the Three Rivers hospital's staffing levels from 1.5 full-time equivalent positions to 6.5.
Health P.E.I. said in the release that the Kings County hospital's ER often sees a disproportionate number of non-urgent patients who could be treated by primary care providers — if they had access to one.
The agency said an "incident command group will be activated to focus on recruiting the necessary staff to expand ED hours, implementing new access points, and working with the community to ensure timely access to care is available in the region."
James Benesh was so interested in researching an online hockey draft, he ended up with one of the largest-known collections of hockey books and eventually being called a hockey historian.
A recent market and fundraiser showcasing Palestinian-owned businesses in Hamilton, including new start-ups by people from Gaza who now call the city home, was met with “incredible” support, organizers say.
This time next year, Joellah Fletcher plans to be prepping or taking her final exams to become a certified Red Seal carpenter.
East of the small village of Coutts, Alta., a stone’s throw from the border with the United States, Cindy Bosch’s day-to-day life looks much like it did a year ago.
For years, police have been on the front lines of mental health crisis calls in Toronto, but the city's police chief believes it's now time to rethink that approach.
One of Prince Edward Island’s last surviving Second World War veterans has died.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada has too much regulation and not enough investments in clean energy and technology — and he's making his most direct repudiation yet of his predecessor's environmental policies.
WARNING: This story contains distressing content, including racist, violent and antisemitic language.
A national Jewish advocacy organization is taking legal action against Manitoba's medical regulator over a complaint it made last year alleging a prominent doctor made antisemitic comments on social media.
A cat that went missing in a remote area of northeastern B.C. is finally back home with its family in Oklahoma, five months later.
It wasn’t clear trolleys would be a hit in Medicine Hat, but the Sunshine Trolley has wound its way into Hatters’ hearts.
More than 200 volunteers and politicians gathered in Etobicoke Saturday for the Daily Bread Food Bank’s holiday sort.
The rising cost-of-living has already made supporting a family difficult this year. But, the holidays can make staying on budget that much harder.