ER closures causing longer wait times and frustrated physicians in Cape Breton

SYDNEY, N.S. -

For at least another month, the emergency room at the Glace Bay Hospital will remain closed. The Victoria County General in Baddeck will also stay shuttered until the middle of September, which means the Cape Breton Regional Hospital's ER department is the only option for emergency care on the eastern side of the island. 

"We had one patient recently who waited 31 hours to be seen. It was a relatively minor matter, but they were in the waiting room for 31 hours straight before they could be seen," said Dr. Margaret Fraser, a physician in Cape Breton.

Staffing shortages of both nurses and physicians is creating longer than normal wait times.

Fraser says it's also putting pressure on current staff and creating burnout.

"Morale on the nursing staff is at an all-time low. Most of our nurses have applied for jobs at other places or are seriously considering applying for jobs in other places. We're losing our experienced staff in record numbers," added Fraser.

Tom Urbaniak, a political science professor at Cape Breton University says Tim Houston will have to deliver on promises made during the campaign, including universal access to mental health services, ramping up physician recruitment, and putting physician recruitment into the hands of local authorities, which will have an effect on ER closures.

"He is going to have to get some quick wins, as complicated as these problems are, because that will then establish some momentum, trust, and credibility," Urbaniak said.

Fraser says one change that would help with staffing shortages is financial incentives for nurses who work in the emergency department.

"Working day after day in an environment where you're seeing people badly injured, having heart attacks, having strokes, being newly diagnosed with cancers. It can be very hard for the nursing staff to take that," said Fraser.

Fraser also says opening up more medical school seats would help, in the long-term, fix a problem that she diagnoses as critical.