Hospital service reductions are coming to Walkerton as well as changes to the Chesley hospital due to a shortage of nurses.
A release from the South Bruce Grey Health Centre (SBGHC) says starting December 27th, the Walkerton hospital Emergency Department will be closed overnight from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. for an indefinite period.
People who need emergency care overnight should go to one of the neighbouring Emergency Departments that are still open 24/7, or call 911 to be taken to the nearest 24/7 Emergency Department. SBGHC operates hospitals in Durham and Kincardine. Hanover and District Hospital is also nearby. Those are all open day and night.
In addition, the Inpatient Unit at the Chesley site of SBGHC will be converted to a 20-bed Alternate Level of Care (ALC) Unit for an indefinite period to allow for an alternate staffing model to be used with less registered nurses (RNs) required. The Chesley Hospital Closed its emergency department overnight back in September 2019 and it has stayed that way since.
ALC patients no longer require acute care and are awaiting placement in the community (i.e. long-term care, group home, home with home care supports). SBGHC’s Chesley site currently has 10 Seniors Centre of Care beds that care for this patient population.
At a special meeting on December 17th, the South Bruce Grey Health Centre’s Board of Directors approved a reduction of services at the hospital due to nursing staff shortages.
A release from the hospital organization says it has been facing significant shortages in health human resources for over five years, particularly in nursing.
The SBGHC says, “There is an overall shortage of nurses in the province, which is being compounded by burn-out after 20 months of navigating the pandemic, the unique nature of rural nursing practice, a younger work force that has resulted in a large number of maternity leaves, and more nursing opportunities available across the system that provide a more attractive schedule (i.e. Monday to Friday without evenings and weekends).”
The SBGHC says with three recent RN departures impacting the current nursing schedule, it is facing critical nursing shortages over the holiday season, and well into the new year. It says it does not have enough staff to provide the current level of service and there is a large number of unfilled shifts in the upcoming nursing schedule starting January 2nd, 2022.
SBGHC president and CEO Michael Barrett says in a statement, “We have had several close calls over the last six months where we almost had an unplanned emergency department closure, and it has become clear that we will not have enough staff to continue to operate at our current level of service,” adding, “I must emphasize that we have only been able to keep services open to date based on the good will and hard work of our front line staff and managers, and this situation is not sustainable.”
The board looked at 12 options for service reductions across the organization were reviewed, ranging from complete closures of programs and services, to modification and reductions of service levels.
The Board wanted to ensure key programs like the Family Birthing Centre, where mothers deliver over 450 babies annually, was protected.
The board reasoned, moving to reduced hours in the Walkerton ED has the least impact on patients, as 82 per cent of its visits take place between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. and there are five alternate EDs open 24/7 within 51 km of Walkerton.
Combining the ED closure with the designation of the Chesley Inpatient unit frees up enough staff to fill vacant shifts, and allows for a small contingency for sick calls and patient transfers.