Keeping ERs open a priority for new Gatineau hospital head

Gatineau and Hull hospitals will do everythingpossible to keep their emergency rooms open this summer despite serious staff shortages, says the hospitals' new head.

Andr Rodier made the statement Thursday afternoon at his first news conference since becoming the director of Gatineau's health services, responding to doctors' predictions that staff shortages will force the hospitals' emergency rooms to close in coming months.

"I've been here for10 weeks, so we don't have all the hows," he said. "But certainly we have the vision, we know on what issues we need to work on a priority basis."

He said those include recruiting doctors, managing resources efficiently and changing the hospitals' culture.

He added that hospitals have already recruited an orthopedic surgeon who will start in September and will also begin using a portable mammogram unit that month to reduce waiting times.

The spokesman for a local health lobby group said he thinks Rodier is on the right track.

"We're quite confident in what he can do," said Pierre Ippersiel of Outaouais l'urgence phase 2, a group that has often called attention to problems at the hospitals.

"Of course, the problem cannot be solved in the next weeks. It's a long-term process. But I think that he has a good grasp of the situation."

Rodier was previously the head of Hawkesbury and District General Hospital in Ontario.

'We have torebuild trust': board president

Meanwhile, Gatineau health services board president Bruno Bonneville said officials are aware of that they need to address more than just medical issues.

"I think we have to rebuild that trust, that confidence, the true spirit of pride into the institutions," he said.

Twelve of Hull hospital's 21 emergency room doctors will not be working there full-time this summer. Of those, four won't be there at all, while eight others have changed their status, allowing them to refuse shifts.

Gatineau hospital's emergency room faces staff shortages also.

Emergency roomsat both hospitalsare often overfilledfar above their official capacities and patientscan wait on stretchersfor days before being admitted to other wards due to staff shortages.