The South Bruce Grey Health Centre facility at Chesley. (supplied image)
After nearly three years of reduced hours of operation, the Chesley Hospital’s emergency department will be returning to 24-hour service next week.
It will resume on Wednesday, June 15.
South Bruce Grey Health Centre says in a release its board of directors approved the resumption of 24/7 service at the Chesley emergency department after closely monitoring the stability of staffing since the resumption of 24-hour service at the Walkerton Hospital emergency department and the return of eight acute care beds at the Chesley inpatient unit on May 9.
“This assessment has confirmed that with the continued dedication and support of SBGHC’s staff, the use of agency nurses, casual nurses, externs, and registered mid-wives, a recommendation could be provided to the SBGHC Board to proceed with reopening of 24-hour service,” a statement from the hospital organization explains.
A critical nursing staff shortage forced South Bruce Grey Health Centre to close the emergency department at the Chesley Hospital overnight in September 2019, shifting hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
The Chesley Hospital Closed its emergency department overnight back in September 2019 and it has stayed that way since. In December 2021, the staffing shortage prompted further action. The Walkerton Hospital’s emergency department was closed overnight as well, and the inpatient unit at the Chesley Hospital was converted to an alternate level of care unit to allow for a staff model to be used with less registered nurses.
The hospital organization announced a plan in April to re-open the emergency departments at its Chesley and Walkerton sites, as well as other key services that were reduced by the nursing staff shortage. At the time, the hospital organization said its readiness for re-opening was measured against two key factors: the ability to adequately staff all nursing departments across the four hospital sites, and the ability to grant vacation in the amount that meets or exceeds the entitlement of each bargaining unit.
South Bruce Grey Health Centre president and CEO Michael Barrett says the organization will continue to take the necessary steps, and work closely with its nurses and physicians to ensure every effort is made to provide the necessary coverage to keep its emergency departments open.
“We are very pleased that we can again provide 24/7 service across all four sites of SBGHC, and meet the expectations of the communities we serve for around-the-clock service,” Barrett says.
South Bruce Grey Health Centre acknowledges in a release, there is a chance of a future time-limited reduction in service still at the Chesley and Walkerton emergency department that could come at short notice, should the agency nurse pool dry up, or the provincial health human resource situation deteriorate further.
“The risk of further reductions is very real, but SBGHC is proceeding knowing that it is important to our communities to return all of our operations to 24/7 service, even if there is a chance of time-limited reduction in service in the future,” the release says.
Now that South Bruce Grey Health Centre is able to re-open all of its emergency departments, the challenge of physician coverage is at the forefront.
They say it is becoming an ever increasing challenge across its four hospital sites — and across many small, rural emergency departments in Ontario.
“The dedicated groups of local physicians who cover SBGHC’s four EDs also work in family practice clinics, provide coverage at local long-term care and retirement homes, assist with surgeries, and cover many other clinical responsibilities,” a release from South Bruce Grey Health Centre explains. “With our local physicians stretched in many directions, and a shrinking supply of locums available to assist in filling vacant ED shifts, it is clear that SBGHC will continue to face challenges ensuring physician coverage of all of our EDs over the summer and into the fall.”
