Holiday health-care crunch prompts some N.B. ER advisories, overnight closures

A high number of patients,high bed-occupancy ratesand staffing challenges have made for a long wait in some New Brunswick emergency rooms and one closureover the holidays.

In Fredericton, a Dr. EverettChalmers Hospital emergency doctor took to social media to warn people of long wait times Thursday night.

"The DECH ER is jammed up and while we are trying to see those that are immediately life- or limb-threatening, almost everyone else will likely not get seen until the morning," Dr. Yogi Sehgal said in a social media post at around 7 p.m. Thursday.

In an update at 2 a.m., he said some logistical work and administrative decisions slightly alleviated the backlog.

"We have a somewhat functional ER again, although waits will still be extremely long," he said.

In northern New Brunswick, theVitalit Health Network is asking the public to avoid emergency rooms inCampbellton and Caraquet,"except in urgent cases."

"People who come to the Emergency for non-urgent reasons should be patient and expect much longer than usual wait times," the advisory said.

In Caraquet, 12 of 13 beds are occupied, and in Campbellton, there are eight more patients than its 10-bed capacity, the advisorystated.

In Sainte-Anne-de-Kent, about 60 kilometres north of Moncton, the ER at Stella-Maris-de-Kent Hospitalwill be closed overnight.

Anadvisory says the emergency department would beclosed between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.from Dec. 27 until Jan. 2.

"This change is due to a critical shortage of nursing staff," according tothe advisory.

Theclosest other emergency room is in Moncton, a roughly 40-to-50-minutedriveaway.

Holidays add to fluctuating capacity

The Chalmers falls under Horizon Health Network, whichhas not issued an advisory to the public.

Greg Doiron, vice-president of clinical operations, urged people"to consider their health care option" before coming to the emergency room.

"Non-urgent medical needs, such as a cough or sore throat, flu symptoms, prescription refills, earaches, headaches etc. are best treated in other settings," he said.

He said hospitalcapacity varies from day-to-day, especially during the holidays.

Alternatives to the emergency room include a primary care professional ora pharmacist. Medicare also coverseVisitNB,an online 24/7 platform that connects users with a doctor or nurse practitioner for a virtual appointment.

In Fredericton, the Urgent Treatment Centre at Brookside Mall offers care to patients experiencing "unexpected non-life-threatening illnesses or injuries requiring urgent, same-day medical attention."

The clinic isopen two days a week, Mondays and Wednesdays. Doiron saidhours of service will be expanding "in the months ahead."