Multiple New Brunswick emergency departments close as long weekend begins
It's becoming all too routine in New Brunswick, emergency room closures were announced again over the holiday weekend.
The Sackville Memorial Hospital closed again Friday due to a shortage of doctors to operate the department according to Horizon Health Network.
"It's always concerning," said Sackville Mayor Shawn Mesheau.
"I think it's not just on holidays its any time as everyone's aware I think we're 8:00 – 4:00, seven days a week in our emergency department," Mesheau said.
The emergency department of Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton is asking the public to limit visits for the entire weekend - except in cases of an actual emergency.
Vitalite Health Network cites nursing shortages for the closure.
The first long weekend of summer has doctors concerned for the incidents that go along with it.
"Dehydration, alcohol consumption, boating which needs to be thought about, there's also more of a risk to our under serviced populations and at risk groups," said NBMS President Dr, Mark MacMillan.
Staffing shortages and giving healthcare workers a rest to recharge is leaving emergency departments with their hands tied.
"We can't have a nurse or physician work 24 hours a day seven days a week," Dr. Macmillan said.
"It's not safe and it's also not safe for the physician or nurse it's been a very trying time over the last two and a half years and people do need some time away," he said.
The Sackville Memorial Hospital emergency department is slated to reopen at 8 a.m. Saturday.
While late Friday afternoon, Horizon Health announced Sussex Health Center's ER will be closed for all of Saturday.
"There's a large meeting just happened this past Wednesday, with all kinds of stakeholders at the table so you are going to see some things moving forward," said Dr. MacMillan.
"There is a vacancy in the department of health for recruitment so they have to hire a recruiter for the recruitment so that's an ongoing process," he said.
Communities are coming together with health authorities to figure out solutions and recruit healthcare workers.
"When you talk about attracting people into a community when you're trying to fill these positions there's a lot of things that go with it," Mesheau said.
"It's not just the job it's where you're living," he said.
New Brunswick is not alone. On Prince Edward Island, the CEO of PEI Health is advising residents to expect longer than average wait times at island emergency rooms due to staffing shortages over the long weekend.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.