Rural emergency room suspensions part of a bigger problem, mayor says

Rural emergency rooms will no longer be operating under nurse-managed care when a doctor is not available starting Sept.6.

In the past few years, when doctors were not available, nurses and nurse practitioners wouldphone doctors in other hospitals to obtain medical direction on how to care for patients.

The practice was considered aBand-Aid solution by the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority (RHA) to help combat service gaps due to doctor shortages.

• Signs to mark emergency room suspensions in Manitoba's Interlake

The regional health authority is ending that practice and bringing in changes that they hope will "stabilize" delivery of care in the region.

Part of those changes include posting doctors' schedules online and placing bright lime green signs outside emergency rooms to signal to people that emergency services there are suspended.

Residents in the Interlake say while the changes may help communicate when there are staffing shortages, it does not address the problem.

"We just need good solid doctors, everywhere, all the time. That's what we want," said Alvina Reimer, who lives near Arborg, Man.

Reimer said it may be convenient to check online for information about emergency room closures but it may not always be practical.

"That's not what you think of when you need the ER, you want to just go get help like right now," said Reimer.

TeulonMayor Bert Campbell says doctor shortages have plagued rural areas for years.

"It's gotten to a point where I believe it's an absolute crisis," said Campbell.

"What we need here is docs. The fact [is] that emergency care in the whole region has been become quite sparse. And I think the ambulances are making hundreds of thousands of miles that they never ever had to make before, because they have to find a place where they can take people."

• Doctor shortage in Interlake, eastern Manitoba hits emergency rooms

Campbell said that some people may also choose not to travel by ambulance and are not likely to check a website before heading to the closest hospital.

"When you get into a situation where you need to do something quickly, you're just going to head to the hospital. And I guess when you get there you're going tofind out that you need to go somewhere else," he said.

Campbell said that while having information about emergency room staffing posted online might help some people get to the right hospital, having to travel longer distances is problematic.

"We're only 30 minutes from Winnipeg for goodness sakes, so we're probably pretty lucky. The people that are an hour and half, two hours away, three hours awaythey have a problem. A real problem," he said.

Campbell also noted that the increased use of STARS air ambulance also comes with a cost.

"It's unbelievable amounts of money that are being spent to get people proper care whenever there is an emergency situation," said Campbell.

Campbell saidthat nurse-managed care was never an ideal solution to the problem and he'd like to see more doctors in rural areas.

"The end of nurse managed care is probably a better thing for the actual patient. The solution is to get ourselves some doctors in this area."