Closing Western Hospital's ER overnight is 'taking chances,' doctor warns

The head of Western Hospital's emergency department says closing the ER at night amounts to walking a tightrope without a safety net.

The Alberton, P.E.I., hospital's overnight collaborative emergency centre has been closed for almost a year due to chronic staffing shortages,and the daytime ER often shuts down services due to a lack of workers as well.

Dr. RobertoCampanaro says the hospital's emergency room sees about 30 patients a day on average, and thoughthe vast majority of visits happen during the day, closing the ER at night could put lives at risk.

"Medicine is not something that happens 9 [a.m.]to 5 [p.m.] people get sick 24 hours a day," he said in an interview with CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.

"Generally speaking, when people feel sick enough to have to come to a hospital at two in the morning, it's usually for something significant. Most people are not coming because of a stubbed toe or a hangnail. They're coming because they may have chest pain or shortness of breath or abdominal pain."

If you are a tightrope walker with a 99 per cent chance of crossing that wire, you don't need a safety net.But every once in a while you're going to fall and you need a safety net.Dr. Robert Campanaro

Campanaro said he understands staff may be more useful elsewhere across the system but says they're still "taking chances" by not offering overnight services.

"If you are a tightrope walker with a 99 per cent chance of crossing that wire, you don't need a safety net. But every once in a while you're going to fall and you need a safety net. I think inevitably, at some point people will fall and there won't be the safety net there to catch them."