ER hours frustrate Ste Anne residents

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This article was published 25/08/2019 (1714 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After dealing with months of reduced hours at the emergency room in Ste Anne, some residents are wondering when and if the Ste Anne emergency room will ever get back to normal hours.

Since October 2018, the hours of operation with reduced hours, operating from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Ste Anne resident Monique Ste-Marie said residents having no idea when hours could go back to normal, she fears that those who deal with a medical emergency in the area could be at greater risk of harm if they have to travel farther for emergency services.

“It concerns me a lot as now if something needs urgency we either have to go to Steinbach or Winnipeg and wait for hours on end to be seen,” Ste Marie said. “I loved how it was before.”

Ste Marie added many in her community are dealing with anxiety over not knowing when the hours will return to normal.

She also wonders why the emergency helipad was recently revamped and reopened at the Ste Anne hospital, when the hospital doesn’t even offer emergency services 24-hours per day.

“It just seems crazy to me they would open up this helipad when we don’t even have a fully staffed emergency room,” she said.

Ste Anne resident Christine Rivard said she and others don’t know if the problem will one day improve, or if things will get even worse.

“I am concerned for a few reasons,” Rivard said. “If it continues to run on reduced hours, are we simply one step away from it closing completely?

“Also, is it likely to result in a loss of life driving that extra distance to Steinbach, because one life lost is one too many.”

Rivard said she worries if new physicians know about the staff shortages at Ste Anne, it may give them more reasons to stay away and simply compound the problem.

“Will we be less likely to attract more staff for the hospital with reduced hours. It’s always been very well staffed with excellent people and it would be a shame to lose that,” she said.

Rivard added many in Ste Anne have become frustrated with the situation to the point that some feel they may need to take action into their own hands, and make their voices heard.

“I have heard people are considering a petition, and I’m not sure why someone hasn’t yet,” she said. “Perhaps they’re worried it will fall on deaf ears.”

She said she wonders why it is so difficult to get a full complement of physicians in Ste Anne.

“I have no idea why it would be hard to hire and maintain staff,” she said. “Ste Anne is a great place to live, in close proximity to the both Winnipeg and Steinbach.”

A spokesperson for Southern Health said meetings to discuss the Ste Anne ER situation are planned, but would not give any firm timelines on when those meetings would take place.

“The ER may go back to 24 hours in fall, depending on physician recruitment,” the spokesperson said.

“Physician recruitment is the reason why the ER is not operating at full capacity in terms of staff and regular hours.

According to the health authority, four to five physicians are on staff at the ER, depending on holiday rotations. The preference, the spokesperson said, is to have six to seven physicians on staff to get the ER back up to regular hours.