Western Manitoba will be short 20 doctors this summer, temporary ERs closures expected

The health authority inwestern Manitobaexpects to be short 20 doctors by the end of this summer, as itstruggleswith finding staff at twopersonal care homes and to prevent ERs fromtemporarily closing.

Sue Stirling, who is part of a citizens' group fightingto keep health-care services alivein Grandview, wasupdated on Prairie Mountain Health's challenges ata meeting she and others from the community attended earlier this month.

The situation across the region is bleak, she said.

"This is so far beyondwhat it used to be, even [when we were]going through the pandemic," said Stirling, a member of theGrandview Health Care Solutions group.

"I guess the way to describe it would be the perfect storm," she said. "We've just come out of COVID. We have a shortage of nurses. We have a shortage of doctors."

Grandview, a townof about 1,400 that is290 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg,isfeeling the consequences.

A week ago, itshospital went fromsupporting 14 beds to eight, due to staffing shortages which she hopes are temporary.

Empty care home beds due to lack of staff

Stirling said shelearned during the meeting withPrairie Mountain Health CEOBrian Schoonbaert that therewill be 20 doctor vacancies in the region by the end of thesummer.

As well, 22 personal care home beds in Dauphin and nine beds in Gilbert Plains are sitting emptybecause there are not enough nurses to care for thoseresidents.

In addition, Prairie Mountain anticipates it will have to temporarily close emergency departments in various locations throughout the summer, and temporarily shift some emergency departments to urgent care facilities due to staffing and servicing constraints.

That has been occurringin various Prairie Mountain communities over the years.

While staffing challenges didn't developovernight, Stirling said the outlook for the months ahead is discouraging, especially as staff take their vacations.

From her perspective in the meeting, Stirling said the message from the health authoritywas clear: "Itisgoing to get worse during the summer because we are in such a bad position to cope right now."

She recently wrote a synopsis of the meeting, which was published in the community newspaperand circulated on Facebook.

Stirling said transparency was part of the reasonshe wrote the letter, "but more importantlyit's about the community knowing that there are things happening in the background that arebeyond anybody's control right now."

The Grandview Health Care Solutions community group is doingwhat it can bysupportingexisting staff and aiding recruitment efforts. It's working with Prairie Mountain on ways to find volunteers forbasic tasks, such as answering phones,in thehospital andpersonal care home.

On its own, themunicipality offers signing bonusesfor new nurses who commit to staying for two years up to $20,000 and in a few days will take possession of a house that new nurses can share.

Grandview also offers financial support to help doctors run clinics.

Mayor Dwayne Bomak, who attended the meeting with Prairie Mountain,said "dangling that carrot" has brought health-care workers to the community.

"Government should be picking up the tab for thisstuff I guess, but that's just not going to happen from what we've seen," he said.

"Basically, if we want health care in the community, this is something we have to do."

Home care solutions

At the recent meeting, Stirling said she was told the government is exploringseveral options to improve the health-care situation.

The province is looking at keeping some individuals who require lower levels of care at home, rather than moving them to a personal care home, by providingmoney to pay for home support. The government may look at businessesto establish that type of support, Stirling said.

As well, Stirling wrote in her letter, the province is looking at developing a provincial nursing agency.

When asked to respond to Stirling's letter and theseproposed ideas, a government spokesperson directed CBC News to a statement from Prairie Mountain Health.

In it,Schoonbaertdid not speak topotential solutions,but said staffing challenges are exacerbatedin the summerwhile people are on vacation.

"There is also an ongoing challenge associated with finding available agency staff to pick up vacant shifts over the summer months," he said in an email.

"Hard-working and dedicated staff have been picking up extra shifts whenever possible," he said.

"We wholeheartedly appreciate that level of commitment."

Schoonbaertsaid affected communities will be informed of any temporary facility closures.

EMS stations saved

Stirling said she appreciates thatPrairie Mountain recently met with the citizens' group, and while some of what they heard was discouraging, there was some "good news."

Provincialplans to close more than a dozen EMS stations, announced in 2017, are on hold, at least untilother health-care issues are sorted, she was told.

She says inGrandview, fighting for health care is about the vitality of their community, and she worries that losing the hospital and personal care home could be its death knell.

"The passion for keeping the people in this community and providing better care closer to home isright across the age groups," she said.

"It's every profession. It's every walk of life. It's every age group.Everybody believes in the same thing."

Dire health-care staffing situation coming to western Manitoba

2 years ago

Duration 2:29

The health authority in western Manitoba expects to be short 20 doctors by the end of this summer, as it struggles with finding staff at two personal care homes and to prevent ERs from temporarily closing.