'Absolute last resort': N.B. ER closures shine spotlight on staffing challenges, concern about the future

Emergency department closures in Oromocto, Sussex and Sackville, N.B., on Friday and over the weekend have some worried about the future of their ER’s.

New Brunswick's Horizon Health Network says the closures are an "absolute last resort," over the next several days because of a shortage of staff due to COVID-19.

Oromocto’s emergency department was closed on Friday, but will reopen Saturday morning at 8 a.m.

Sussex Health Centre’s emergency department will be closed during the evening and night shifts Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

The Sackville Memorial Hospital’s emergency department will be closed all day Saturday and Sunday, reopening Monday morning at 8 a.m.

"Our pre-existing staffing challenges have been amplified this summer in the wake of a recent rise in COVID-19 activity, as well as the need to provide our staff with vacation time," a Horizon spokesperson said in a statement. "We are working on a number of strategies aimed at improving ED services in all of our hospitals and are committed to providing sustainable access for residents."

"We're frontline. And we meet people every day, and sometimes we don't know what their health status is," said N.B. Medical Society President, Dr. Mark MacMillan.

It’s shining a spotlight on how necessary recruitment is. So much so, it’s caused Horizon to change a policy that required family doctors to take shifts at the emergency department in Sackville.

"This condition has presented a significant barrier to our recruitment efforts in Sackville, as very few candidates are interested in managing a family practice while also taking on additional duties in the ED," said Dr. Jody Enright, Horizon’s Medical Director for Moncton and Sackville.

Since they’ve removed that policy, two physicians have stopped working at Sackville’s emergency department so they can focus on their family practices.

Sackville’s mayor believes its short-term pain, for long-term gain.

"We look at it as, it will give us some long-term gain in order to attract more family physicians. I mean, that's a big target here," said Shawn Mesheau. "We talk about the emergency department but it is so important the fact that we have access to primary care. If it means that these doctors, that are no longer available for the emergency department, have more time to spend on the primary care aspect. That might help alleviate some of the issues with our emergency department."

Mesheau says he’s been given every indication the hospital’s emergency department has a future, possibly even return to its normal 24-hour operation.

"There's always talk about a complete closure of the Oromocto Hospital," said Oromocto Mayor Robert Powell.

He says their hospital serves almost 30,000 people in the Sunbury County region.

But Horizon hasn’t given him any indication a closure could happen – it just remains a concern.

"If you close that hospital down and those 28,000 people head for Fredericton, you think the lineup and the waitlist is long now - it will be twice as long," he said. "The hospital system would be in a real mess in the Fredericton district here."

Most are hopeful these closures are just a moment in time.

"Just like across the country, we are in a human resources crisis. There's only so many of us," said Dr. MacMillan. "And with more of us going off sick after acquiring COVID or having a contact, that's going to put that extra strain on the system. So for all New Brunswickers, we need you to know: COVID has not gone away."