Arnprior, Ont. ER the latest rural hospital to experience staff shortages
The Arnprior Regional Hospital was forced to close its emergency room Monday night for the second time this month.
In a statement, hospital CEO Leah Levesque said, "Unfortunately, we could not avoid the two overnight temporary closures due to unexpected staffing shortages. We cannot guarantee there will not be another temporary closure."
Arnprior's ER also closed the night of Friday, May 19.
The hospital cites burnout, illness, and workers leaving the profession as reasons for the closures.
"If we are at a point where one or two sick calls makes a department have to close, this tells you how extreme these shortages in Ontario are," said Erin Ariss, president of the Ontario Nurses' Association.
The ONA says Ontario is short 24,000 nurses, with rural hospitals being most heavily impacted.
"There's just not enough staffing at this point to keep these emergency departments open," she tells CTV News.
At Queen's Park Tuesday, interim Liberal leader John Fraser claimed there were 145 emergency room closures across Ontario last summer.
In Kingston, the Children's Outpatient Clinic Urgent Care Centre will begin limiting the amount of walk-in patients it sees daily, starting June 1.
That centre says it may also close early some days depending on when that limit is reached.
A spokesperson Health Minister Sylvia Jones says the government is working to bolster the health care workforce across the province.
"Our government knows emergency rooms have faced capacity pressures year after year. We know the status quo is not working and more needs to be done, that is why earlier this year we launched Your Health," Hannah Jensen said.
In addition to our efforts to bolster our health care workforce across the province as laid out in Your Health, such as the expanded Learn and Stay Grant, As of Right credentials and working with regulatory colleges to break down barriers for nurses, our government has a number of programs available to support hospitals and their staff. The Emergency Department Locum Program provides urgent locum coverage to designated hospitals facing significant challenges covering emergency department shifts. Last year, through this program, nearly 1500 emergency room closures were diverted."
"What I am deeply concerned about is that this is going to put additional pressure on other emergency departments, other hospitals in the region," said Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles.
Elsewhere in Ontario, the emergency room in Minden is set to close permanently June 1 due to severe staffing shortages.
The ONA is calling on the province for more funding to keep up.
"Look at compensation, benefits, scheduling; things that matter to all Ontarians, in particular nurses," said Ariss.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Next 48 hours will be 'extremely challenging' for B.C. wildfire crews near Fort Nelson: officials
A wildfire burning dangerously close to Fort Nelson, B.C., has grown to more than 50 square kilometres, and officials are warning that the blaze's behaviour is expected to become more volatile over the next 48 hours.
Southern Ont. man charged with attempted murder in Timmins shooting
One of two men wanted for attempted murder in Timmins has been arrested, while a warrant has been issued for a second suspect, who fled police on foot.