Perth hospital extends ER closure amid staffing shortage
A serious staffing shortage at the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital will keep the Perth campus’s emergency department closed longer than expected.
The ER closed on Saturday after COVID-19 sidelined some of the few staff who were available. Patients are being directed to the Smiths Falls campus about 20 kilometres away. The hospital planned to gradually reopen its Perth ER on Thursday, but said Tuesday that won’t be possible.
“In spite of our best effort to reopen the Perth Emergency Department later this week, we learned that additional Emergency Department staff have contracted COVID-19 in the community. As a result, we will be unable to reopen our Perth Emergency Department as planned this week,” a statement from the hospital said.
While COVID-19 is getting the blame for the closure, a long-time doctor at the hospital says the outbreak only made a precarious staffing situation worse.
"To be strict about the language; yeah, COVID caused the closure of our emergency department but the reality of it is we have no built-in resilience in our nursing staff," Dr. Alan Drummond said on Saturday.
Drummond says the hospital went from 15 emergency room nurses down to seven a week ago, and then half of them were sidelined by COVID-19.
Drummond told Newstalk 580 CFRA last week that the number of staff has been dwindling because of people leaving for other opportunities or quitting because of the working conditions.
“I think our nurses have been quite open and clear,” he said. “They have been saying for not just weeks, but months and actually years, we can’t keep up with the pace, things have got to change, something’s got to happen here.”
Hospital CEO Michael Cohen said in a statement Tuesday that the hospital is committed to reopening the ER.
“Unfortunately, with the latest blow from the COVID-19 pandemic, we do not have the staff needed to re-open and sustain operations in our Perth Emergency Department. Every effort is being made to re-establish services at our Perth Emergency Department as soon as possible,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.
15-year-old boy stabbed in Ottawa on Thursday dies
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
'A tiny city:' Pro-Palestinian campus protesters organize for another week
Pro-Palestinian activists have set up tents at universities in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Montreal, following a wave of similar protests at campuses in the United States linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don't see — on their feeds?
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
Princess Anne lays wreath at Battle of Atlantic ceremony; honours late Queen
Princess Anne saluted Canadian veterans and current forces members and honoured her late mother during separate ceremonies Sunday in Victoria as she wrapped up a three-day British Columbia West Coast royal visit.
El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.