'We were caught off guard': Sackville, N.B. hospital closes emergency room on weekends
Emergency room services will once again be reduced in Sackville, N.B., taking many in the community by surprise.
The health authority announced the Sackville Memorial Hospital will shut down its emergency department overnight on weekends as a temporary solution to its staffing concerns.
Newly elected Sackville Mayor Shawn Mesheau says he was unaware of the decision.
"First of all, we were caught off guard," says Mesheau.
According to executive director Nancy Parker, starting Friday, the emergency room will temporarily close each Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. and resume regular daytime services at 8 a.m.
During that time, anyone seeking medical attention will be directed to a different hospital, with the closest being 40 minutes away in Moncton.
The closure is due to staffing shortages. There are nine full-time registered nurse positions available on the unit and currently, only six are filled.
"As we enter the summer, it certainly brings new challenges to us. We have to balance our responsibilities to provide health care, with the need to provide staff with a reasonable amount of vacation time," says Geri Geldart, vice president of clinical at Horizon Health Network
The decision comes more than a year after Premier Blaine Higgs announced six emergency departments across the province would be closed overnight. He ultimately scrapped the decision a week later.
“We cannot keep an ER open if we do not have a safe number of staff members to provide the care there. It is dangerous, not just for the patients, but it is dangerous for the staff," says Health Minister Dorothy Shephard.
New Brunswick Green party leader David Coon says he's "extremely disappointed" that the province has gone back on its promise, and "the minister of health didn't find a way to ensure those ERs would be able to operate."
But for Mesheau, it's not that simple.
"We have to take politics out of healthcare. This isn’t about politics and broken promises, this is about the health of the people in our community," says Mesheau.
Shepard says it's possible other rural communities will see their emergency room services cut short as well.
There has been no date set for when the Sackville closures may come to an end. Horizon Health says it will depend on the success of recruitment to the area.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.