In another sign of strain on British Columbia’s health-care system, residents of a northern Vancouver Island community were left without an emergency department at their hospital for 12 hours this weekend.
Island Health said it was forced to divert people from the Port McNeill ER to Port Hardy, 30 minutes away, between Friday night and Saturday morning due to an “unanticipated temporary nursing shortage.”
“(It’s) very concerning, we need this hospital,” Port McNeil resident Aidan McDonald told Global News.
“This small town is very important to the province and we need to be looked after here. Please find some staff so we can keep it open.”
The Port McNeill hospital serves the town’s 2,000 residents, along with members of nearby First Nations and smaller outlying communities.
This weekend’s closure wasn’t the first this year. In March, the ER was also closed for 12 hours due to a doctor shortage.
“In our discussions with Island Health, we understand that the staffing issue is quite a concern and we will probably have to navigate through this at least through the summer,” Port McNeill Mayor Gaby Wickstrom said.
“There’s a lot of fear in the community because of the unknown. They don’t understand what a diversion is and what a closure is and what’s the difference, and they’re quite concerned they might see some permanent closures as well, though Island Health has assured us that is not something they are considering at this time.”
Wickstrom said the town is working with Island Health to try and address the staffing issues and to “sweeten the pot” to attract more health-care workers to the region.
But the BC Liberal Opposition says Port McNeill’s challenges are only a symptom of a broader problem with B.C.’s health-care system and are calling for more funding and a clear plan from the NDP government.
“It’s happening in Clearwater, it’s happening in Ashcroft, in around Kamloops, it’s happening on the island, it’s happening in northern communities, it’s getting worse,” Kamloops-North Thompson MLA and BC Liberal finance critic Peter Milobar said.
“I think rural communities have accepted that there would be a reduction of services in terms of specialists and things of that nature in their hospitals and their health-care centres, but when you have an actual emergency room, you would expect it to be open.”
Milobar said the closures were particularly worrisome for rural residents, who may have already driven a significant distance to reach an emergency room only to find it closed.
When the issue came up on Friday, Health Minister Adrian Dix pointed to the government’s effort to add nursing school seats as it works on a more comprehensive plan.
“About a month ago we added 602 new nursing spaces in BC colleges and universities across the province,” Dix said.
It’s not an answer that satisfies the Liberals, who say the seats needed to have been added years ago to be producing graduates now.
It’s also unlikely to satisfy Port McNeill residents like Colin Wenman, who say they need services now.
“If somebody gets hurt … it’s quite concerning because the closest hospital is a 30-minute drive, minimum,” he said.
“It’s certainly been getting worse lately. We’ve had emergency room closures, doctor shortages, even trying get a doctor’s appointment in town is often hard to do.”
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