ALBERTON, P.E.I. — Western Hospital will have emergency room coverage during the day Friday and the facility's collaborative emergency centre will be open that evening, after all.
Health P.E.I. announced closures at Western Hospital on Monday, Dec. 9 and Friday, Dec. 13, last Friday, due to a temporary lack of physician coverage.
Monday’s ER and CEC closures occurred, but Health P.E.I. said on Tuesday morning that the physician shortage for this Friday has been resolved.
“Health P.E.I. apologizes for any confusion caused as a previous announcement indicated that the emergency department would be closed on Friday,” a statement from the province said.
In an interview Tuesday morning, Paul Young, administrator of Community Hospitals West, said staff believed they had exhausted all options for finding coverage for Dec. 13, prior to the Dec. 6 announcement.
“In this case, a physician outside of our region was able to identify some additional capacity and move things around on their end to make this work. With a little bit of juggling on our end, we were able to connect the dots on this,” Young said.
Young also explained why an ER closure is always accompanied by a CEC closure.
“The CEC is meant as a bridging model which goes from ER shift to ER shift,” he said.
"If we don’t have an ER shift to either lead to or come from, then the model cannot operate in itself.”
A concern that a patient requiring emergency care might delay a hospital visit thinking a CEC would do is a principal reason for the partnership.
“We want to insure they will continue to call 9-1-1 and they would not hesitate or delay their care going to the Prince County Hospital.”
And he said the CEC is not structured to see the volume of patients typically seen in an emergency department.
The volume of patients seen the day after a closure is almost crippling for the emergency department, he added.
“We believe very strongly that’s in the best interest of residents, that, if we close (the ER), we need to close the CEC as well.”
Although Young acknowledged such closures are not unique to Western Hospital, he said the goal is to make them a thing of the past.
“One closure is one too many, but we are thankful it is much fewer than it could’ve been, despite our challenges.”
There are identified gaps further along in the Christmas season but Young did not provide dates as staff are still trying to fill them.
For optimum performance, Young said the emergency department relies on two dedicated ER physicians and three family medicine physicians who pick up shifts. One of the dedicated physician positions is currently vacant.
“So, we have four-fifths of that full, which is the best we have been in quite some time.”
But Young acknowledged one physician will be going on leave soon, which will result in some additional pressure on the system.
“December is when our existing providers, as we all do, look to take some time off and some reprieve. That means bringing in additional locums to fill those holes,” said Young.
Great efforts are made to prevent closures, he added.
“Whenever we close, there is a big ripple effect right across the system, so we are very cognizant of that, but we are very aware what impact this has within our community.”
That is not something the community should have to wear, said Young, adding staff share the community's frustrations.
“It’s certainly our responsibility, and we recognize that it is, to mitigate and to put plans in place to be able to fill those shifts and to be able to secure access. Whenever we get to a point where we’re not able to do so, it is extremely disheartening to us.”
