Perth, Ont. mayor says health-care system 'unraveling' as ER remains closed
Municipal leaders in small Ontario communities are sounding the alarm over the temporary closures of hospital emergency rooms, saying action is needed to ensure local residents and visitors to those areas can get the care they need.
Hospitals have cited critical staff shortages for the closures and organizations representing doctors and nurses have noted that workers are burned out and leaving their roles after two years on the front lines of the pandemic.
In Perth, Ont., where the emergency room at the local hospital has been closed since July 2, the town's mayor said he worries rural hospitals have become an "endangered species."
Mayor John Fenik likened the health-care system to a quilt "slowly unravelling."
"The threads are coming out of it. And if the ministry doesn't do something now, today, and get together and sit down with people that are far smarter than I to figure this out, we're going to have some real problems," he said.
"I think rural hospitals are an endangered species."
The local emergency room has been shut until further notice as the hospital contends with a COVID-19 outbreak among staff that has been magnified by a critical shortage of workers. Patients have been directed to a partner hospital in Smiths Falls, about 20 kilometres east.
Fenik said the ER closure has devastated the community, which skews elderly and attracts tourists and cottagers from nearby Ottawa during the summer months. The town, he said, is expecting thousands of visitors for this weekend's Stewart Park Festival.
"This is kind of keeping me up at night because I don't want anybody to be hurt and not get the care they need," he said.
"A closure of an emergency ward is critical. It's a critical piece of the hospital care system."
In Mount Forest, Ont., the Louise Marshall Hospital announced Monday it would close its ER Saturday and Sunday night due to gaps in nursing coverage and a COVID-19 outbreak.
"Our staff have been going above and beyond for greater than two years and we cannot ask them to do more," Angela Stanley, the hospital's president and CEO, wrote in a statement on the hospital website.
In Huron County, emergency rooms in Clinton, Ont., and Seaforth, Ont., were to shut their doors on Monday and Tuesday night.
Bernie Bailey, reeve of the Township of North Huron in Huron County, said the federal and provincial governments need to find ways to entice more people to rural Ontario to support the health-care system.
Otherwise, he fears the combination of a gruelling pandemic and chronic staffing shortages could prove disastrous for small towns.
"In 10 years, we could look back and say, 'Wow, this destroyed rural Ontario's health system,"' he said.
"Whether it's a tourist or whether it's a farmer, or whether it's a factory worker ... we need the ER there. We need to have them here."
Glen McNeil, warden for Huron County, sought to reassure residents that when a hospital temporarily closes its ER, there is another nearby to accommodate patients.
But, he said, with no foreseeable end to staffing shortages and in order to support remaining workers, local hospitals are venturing into a "new norm."
"There will be hospitals that will have emergency rooms open 24 hours a day, they just may not be as close as they've been in the past," said McNeil, who serves as board chair for the Alexandra Marine and General Hospital.
"We must support our staff, preserve our staff, and we may do business differently."
Health-care spending was expected to be a top agenda item as Canada's premiers gather in Victoria this week for two days of meetings. The premiers are pushing the federal government to increase its share of health-care spending from 22 to 35 per cent.
The head of southwestern Ontario's Perth County, where two hospital ERs temporarily closed this weekend due to staffing shortages, said money "is not the only answer."
"I want to see a plan of where they're going to put these people and where these people are going to come from," said Jim Aitcheson, the county warden, referring to health-care workers. "Sooner or later, it's going to have to be a topic of discussion. And I hope that's sooner than later."
The recent closures, while largely in smaller communities, have also spread to urban centres -- the urgent care centre at Peel Memorial in Brampton, Ont., shut earlier than usual on Sunday before reopening Monday morning.
The union representing Ontario nurses has called for the government to expand fast-track programs that help registered practical nurses become registered nurses, as well as cut wait times for internationally trained nurses to obtain their licences.
A spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Health has said the province was working to bolster workforce capacity, including with lump-sum retention bonuses and funds to recruit nurses to target areas across the province.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6947028.1719779131!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Canada Day is forecast to be rainy for many this year. Here's a look at weather and fireworks celebrations
Canada turns 157 years old this year, and several fireworks shows across the country are expected to paint the night skies in celebration. Here's a look at the forecast and fireworks celebrations across the country for Canada Day in 2024.
Gathered at Camp David, Biden's family tells him to stay in the race and keep fighting
U.S. President Joe Biden's family used a Sunday gathering at Camp David to urge him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite his dreadful debate performance.
B.C.'s Michael J. Fox joins Coldplay on stage at Glastonbury Festival
A crowd of around 100,000 people were treated to a surprise appearance from a B.C. star during Coldplay’s set at Glastonbury Festival in England this weekend.
Are you proud to be Canadian? Poll suggests that feeling is dwindling
A new poll suggests the vast majority of Canadians are proud of their home and native land, but our sense of national pride is lower than it was a few years ago.
WestJet calls on feds for ‘urgent clarity’ around strike after 800 flights cancelled
A strike by WestJet plane mechanics forced the airline to cancel hundreds more flights on Sunday, upending the plans of roughly 110,000 travellers over the Canada Day long weekend and prompting the carrier to demand action from the federal government.
Neighbour on the hook for $3,675 in damages due to ‘nuisance cedar’: B.C. tribunal
A B.C. man who reneged on a deal to split the cost of removing a tree with his next-door neighbour is now on the hook for the whole amount, B.C.’s civil resolution has ruled.
A study identified 6 types of depression. Here’s why that matters
Scientists may be a step closer to that reality, thanks to new research that has identified six subtypes — or 'biotypes' — of major depression via brain imaging combined with machine learning.
Russian state media claim Kanye West is visiting Moscow
Unconfirmed reports say American rapper and producer Kanye West is visiting Moscow. If true, it would make West the first major American celebrity to visit Moscow since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
RCMP says a police chase involving an RV in Lloydminster has resulted in multiple injuries
Several people were injured Saturday night after a man allegedly stole an occupied RV during a police chase at a campground in Lloydminster.