Concordia Hospital's ER will become urgent care centre as of Monday, province says

Theemergency room at Winnipeg's Concordia Hospital isclosing ahead of schedule because the facility doesn't have enough staff to sustain emergency care any longer, it was announced on Wednesday.

Yet health officials insist they have enough employeesto run a 24-hour urgent care centrein its place as soon as Monday.

At a press conference Wednesday, the province moved up the expected timeline of the transformationofConcordia's emergency room into an urgent care centre by three weeks despite unions and hospital staffquestioningif the conversion, announced earlier this month,would even be readyby late June.

"I'm shocked," Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses' Union, told reporters after the unexpected decision came down.

'No hope' Concordia will beready

"I did not really hold out hope that we were going to be able to get everything we need to do done by June 24. I have no hope that in five days we're going to have any semblance of a plan."

Health officials gathered Concordia staff during the lunch hour on Wednesday to break the news.

They found out two weeks ago that the province would convert the ER into an urgent care centre, instead of the walk-in clinicprescribed when Winnipeg'shospital reorganization plantook effectin 2017.

The province changed course after bringing Dr. DavidPeachey backto conduct a "quality assurance assessment" ofthe health-care overhaul that relied heavily on his advice.

Real Cloutier,chief executive officer of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, said staffing levels at the hospital's emergency departmenthave already fallen to urgent care levels.

"Itmakes sense that we actually make that transition sooner than later," he said.

An urgent care facility treats patients with urgent butnon-life-threatening issues.

Wednesday'sannouncement provided little clarity on the status of employees' jobs at the hospital. Some stafftransferred from Concordia, or had already left, because theyweren't needed ata walk-in clinic and now they may have work.

Dr. Ainslie Mihalchuk, chief medical officer at Concordia, said it isn't surprising employees went elsewhere.

"I think some of this is a natural consequence of an inevitable change within the department," she said.

"Certainly, it is a quick pivot in a completely different direction. But we are hearing that lots of the staff who previously worked at Concordia are excited about the opportunity to come back," Mihalchuk said.

She said the hospital is sufficiently staffed for the coming weeks, but will need to recruit the employees who leftand others back to Concordia.

'Unprecedented speed'

Mihalchukacknowledged thatfive days of notice that an ER is closing isn't much time.

"It is happening very quickly and perhaps [at] an unprecedented speed," she said, "but at the same time I think the intentions are to ensure that there's a solid staffing complement at Concordia as soon as we possibly can."

Due to the short timespan, Concordia will maintain its critical care unit and keep acute beds until late June, as backup for patients who don't realize the ER has closed.

Officials could not say how many beds will be required at Concordia's urgent care centre, which would determine staffing levels.

"Atthe end of the day, it is a lower number of nurses and staff that's required to run an urgent care. The skill set of that staff, particularly nurses, is higher because of thecomplement that's required to be able to manage serious conditions that might present,"Mihalchuksaid.

It'svery frustrating for these health-care staff in those departments, because basically their life is in the WRHA's hands- Darlene Jackson, Manitoba Nurses Union

Both Cloutier and Brock Wright, chief executive officer of Shared Health, acknowledged there was a "difference of opinion" on the best course for Concordia's future, until the urgent care was decided.

Health Minister Cameron Friesensaid the government has not been afraid to make changes to the plan when it is warranted.

He said he was confident it was both safe and realistic for the conversion to take effect next week.

Unions have been soundly critical of the province speeding up the timeline, when their members don't know if they'll be needed.

5 days of notice

"They have no idea what is happening in their facility," Jackson said.

"It'svery frustrating for these health-care staff in those departments, because basically their life is in the WRHA's hands."

Bob Moroz,president of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, is skeptical a fully functioningurgent care facility could be in place inunder a week.

He said "it's about time" the WRHA finally acknowledged its overhaul is resulting in staff shortages.

NDP Leader Wab Kinewdidn't mince words in his criticism of the government, saying he called on Cameron Friesen to resign as health ministerbecause of hisbotched handling of the health-care overhaul.

"We got more notice about Game 1 of the NBA Finals than this governmenthas just given us about the closure of an emergency room in Winnipeg," he said.

Kinewsaid he'd be disturbed if the closure was rushedso the government could call an election once the ER's closure was already completed.

Health officials say the other facilities expecting Concordia staffwho decide to stay at the hospital after the urgent care decision was madewill still be allowed to fill those openings.

Before Wednesday's announcement, around 250 protesters rallied on the sidewalk outside Seven Oaks Hospital to protest the closure of that emergency room, which health officials confirmedlater in the day was on track to become an urgent care centre in September.

The protesters carried signs andflags and blew whistles, as passing drivers honked their approval.