MARATHON — Smaller and rural hospitals are continuing to feel the effects of health care staffing shortages, as seen by the temporary closure of the Marathon hospital's emergency department this weekend.
The Wilson Memorial General Hospital on Sunday closed the emergency department for 10 hours, forcing anyone requiring emergency medical care to go directly to facilities in Terrace Bay or Manitouwadge
“It takes just a single sick call or a family emergency or a traffic accident. Whatever reason a staff member can’t attend put us over the edge,” said Adam Brown, the CEO of the North of Superior Health Care Group that operates the hospital.
Staffing shortages in hospitals have been precarious for several years causing management to get creative in areas where shift schedules fall short.
“When you don’t have backup staff on the weekends, we have managers that could perhaps cover or be away for various family reasons,” Brown said.
Brown said that this is the first time the hospital has experienced an emergency department closure, but also admit that he fears it won’t be the last as there are a few gaps in the staff schedule that will need to be filled for later in the week.
Not only are fears of closing ER concerning, but diverting the patients and EMS staff to alternative emergency departments outside of Marathon prolongs treatment, especially for those severe cases, he said.
“Marathon is not close to anywhere else. We are 80 kilometres from Terrace Bay, so if we need an ambulance, you are looking at an hour. Manitouwadge is a little further away as well. It’s about 100 kilometres away,” Brown said.
The highway from Marathon to Manitouwadge is a secondary highway with a total maximum speed limit of 80 kilometres per hour.
“That will add a minimum of another hour toward that treatment opportunity. Of course, depending on the nature of the emergency presentation, that could be severe,” Brown said.
Brown said the hospital did not have an influx of patients in serious need of medical attention while the emergency department was closed on Sunday.
“We had a couple of people knock at the door with relatively minor issues that we were able to divert to the evening shift or today’s primary care clinics. So, we fortunate,” he said.
Brown said recruiting and hiring staff, especially to work in rural and northern settings, is not a quick process.
“There is no simple short-term solution. You can’t create registered nurses overnight. It takes four years of school at the least,” said Brown.
