Elliot Lake hospital working to address staffing shortages

ELLIOT LAKE -

St. Joseph's General Hospital says it's had a tough time navigating some staffing challenges since last summer but its teams are working as hard as possible to keep the doors open.

On Dec. 20, the emergency department had to temporarily close overnight and reroute some emergencies to Blind River.

It's CEO Jeremy Stevenson says the closure was temporary and a measure of last resort as it didn't have the resources it needed to operate safely.

"Closures are rare but we quite frankly have been at risk of closure since the summer," Stevenson told CTV.

"It's based upon shortages, it's based upon nursing shortages and sometimes physician shortages but lately for the last six months it's been based on what we call in the health system HHR, health Human Resources, and it's been specific to nursing."

According to a news release from the hospital that week, St. Joseph's was seeing a higher demand than normal over the holidays. There was no physical space and was also running at 120 per cent capacity.

Shortages of medical personnel have been an ongoing problem in northern Ontario, with the Ontario Nurses' Association, the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine all recently having raised the alarm.Stevenson says in Elliot Lake, they're feeling the pinch.

"If it has to happen (a closure), this one was overnight where the numbers were lower," Stevenson explained.

"Our concern is that because we provide services that are only available within a three-and-a-half hour corridor between Sudbury and the Soo, we have to do whatever it takes to maintain those services."

"Before even the pandemic it was a shrinking market, we were seeing less nurses before the pandemic, number two you add the pandemic on top of that and the burnout it's created within the health system," he continued.

"Number three would be the war on talent, it's not just Elliot Lake. The whole province of Ontario is seeing less nurses because of similar reasons and you're competing for these same nurses."

He says the incentives are also a challenge. Staff are working and moving towards agencies because it's not the same as a hospital which works under a unionized environment.

"We're also seeing a high turnover, more senior nurses who aren't pushing their deserved retirements and it's leaving a hole," said Stevenson.

"Another one that's important to highlight that hasn't helped is BIll 124, which has put a three-year freeze on hospitals, it handcuffs me to be able to offer more to try and offer more to not just new nurses but existing nurses but it also handcuffs me in being able to offer more incentives and more opportunities." 

He adds a rural housing crisis has compounded all of those issues. For Stevenson, he says if he can recruit the nurses, they have to work at trying to find them a place to stay.

Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha says he's been in touch with the hospital and is working to help them in anyway he can.

An Elliot Lake resident himself, he says this is a problem that's being experienced all up and down the North Shore.

"Recruiting and retainment of professional staff has been one of our biggest challenges that we have here. Do we have the vacancies available, yes, what has created these vacancies and the shortages that we have. It's a variety of things and it's not just one thing," said Mantha.

"Particularly when a professional comes here, they find it challenging for finding a home for their family," he added. "We need homes, we need facilities and we need to attract these people here and we also need to make sure that daycare is available to these individuals when they come to the North Shore."

It's a message that was re-iterated by the Mayor Dan Marchisella who CTV reached by phone.

Marchisella says he's been in contact with the hospital and the city will offer to help in any way it can. He's urging people to abide by public health guidelines and to get their vaccines in a bid to take pressure off the emergency room.

For now, Stevenson is urging the public to be kind with frontline staff. He says staff has gone above and beyond to deal with the shortfalls while keeping the doors open.

He also adds they are doing everything they can from his position in hopes of addressing those issues.

"Physicians have stepped up, nurses have stepped up, putting in the extra hours and taking on more patients," said Stevenson.

"We've introduced more support on the floor too so they don't feel alone so we've been innovative and we'll continue to doing that. Our goal is to keep the doors open."