Sackville Memorial Hospital adds 5 nurses to ER, Horizon talks of restoring 24/7 service
CBC
Sackville Memorial Hospital has added five new registered nurses to the emergency department, is slated for ER repairs to fix flood damage from Hurricane Fiona last September, and will soon get a second operating room.
"In collaboration with the community, targeted recruitment efforts in Sackville have yielded positive results," the Horizon Health Network said in a news release Monday.
So much so, Horizon has started to discuss restoring 24/7 emergency services at the hospital, and this collaborative model is now being used as a template in other rural communities facing challenges with recruitment and retention of health-care professionals, such as Sussex.
"We know that our health-care system and our local communities are at their best when we all take ownership of these challenges and work hand-in-hand to address them openly, transparently and collaboratively," Margaret Melanson, Horizon's interim president and CEO, said in a statement.
Sackville Memorial Hospital hasn't been able to offer 24/7 ER services since June of 2021, because of staff shortages. It's open only eight hours a day, from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., and regularly has to further reduce hours or temporarily close, due to a lack of physicians or nurses, including a three-day closure over the holidays.
But Horizon has been working with the Sackville-Memramcook-Tantramar Rural Health Action Group to identify and execute strategies aimed at better promoting the hospital — and the community — "as a quality place to build a career in health care while enjoying all the area has to offer."
In addition to the five newly recruited registered ER nurses, five nurse practitioners are now working in the ER, and nursing support has been added to other areas of the hospital, including an inpatient unit.
Overall, 19 of 24 registered nurse positions are currently filled.
"While there is more to be done before 24/7 [ER] coverage in Sackville can be restored … Horizon remains fully committed to this objective," the regional health authority said in the news release.
About four ER physicians and two more registered nurses must be recruited before 24/7 services can safely resume, it said.
"I think there's a lot to celebrate, but some of it is not as apparent as the nursing numbers are," said John Higham, co-chair of the action group and the former mayor of Sackville.
The hospital had a "real problem with morale," which Horizon had to deal with before it could make it a place people would want to work, he said.
"You know, how are you scheduled for certain items, and what do you do when you don't have enough physicians or nurses in order to take those people, and how do people react to ongoing changes in their daily lives and they get moved all over the place because of priorities?"
Higham credits Horizon for hiring back a retired manager of nursing at the hospital, who has been "terrific" at identifying those issues and coming up with solutions, which have been implemented.
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