Kitimat hospital’s emergency room department (ER) endured yet another closure due to persistent physician shortages last week, marking the tenth such incident since July. Efforts are underway to address the staffing crisis on both local and provincial levels, but despite these initiatives the community continues to grapple with significant gaps in emergency healthcare availability.
Northern Health cautioned residents Oct. 11 physician shortages would force the ER to close for the next two days.
Since July, the ER has experienced ten closures due to shortages of nurses or physicians, seven of which lasted entire shifts. The remaining three closures were rescinded when staffing was secured.
In one instance last July, Kitimat’s only shift-ready physician was relocated to cover a shift in Terrace, but Northern Health doesn’t anticipate that happening again as five new physicians are expected to arrive in the Terrace area by next month.
Beyond the persistent closures lies a deeper crisis as the hospital is regularly challenged with staffing gaps and racing to keep the ER open.
“We are working constantly to fill those shifts when there’s a gap, and a lot of the time we’re able to,” a Northern Health spokesperson said.
Previous closures are due to a mix of both nursing and physician shortages, but the latest two were doctor related.
The number of local physicians in Kitimat providing emergency department coverage, in addition to managing their own private practices, has at times been as many as nine. Currently, the numbers have dwindled by about half, according to Northern Health.
“We are working with Kitimat’s physician community to explore short, medium and longer-term solutions to address the challenges we face,” said Northern Health. “This includes recruiting additional permanent and locum physicians to the community in what is a challenging and competitive national and international recruitment environment.”
Critical to these recruitment efforts is the assurance of a sustainable work-life balance for the healthcare professionals. The District of Kitimat and Northern Health have focused on providing housing, improved daycare facilities, and enhanced senior care options. The provincial health ministry has also supported the measures.
Skeena BC United MLA Ellis Ross expressed his concerns over the closures during question period in the provincial legislature Oct. 5, citing crises across the Northwest.
“Just yesterday in Kitimat, our emergency room had to shut it doors once again. Meanwhile, the health minister calls the collapse of the health system across B.C. under his watch ‘the new normal.’ So, does the premier think the people of Kitimat should settle for this disastrous new NDP normal, where emergency rooms are as good as closed, where you have to be immanently dying to get help?”
Health minister Adrian Dix argued his ministry is in the process of executing multi-year health workforce strategy, announced last year, aimed at alleviating the crisis — most notably by creating more medical education seats at UBC, expanding the range of services offered by pharmacists and first responders, and easing qualification barriers faced by internationally-trained medical professionals.
“We’re taking action — action to recruit doctors, action to recruit nurses, and action through scope of practice changes so people can get more and better care sooner,” Dix said.
Echoing these statements Oct. 11, B.C. Premier David Eby said legislation announced this fall is aimed at streamlining credential recognition for internationally trained professionals